Working On It
by Jedi Bubbles
Summary: Jaina picks Zekk up from Commenor and invites him to stay with her when she finds out that he doesn't have a place to stay. JZ, Flames allowed, full summ. inside Chapter 17 is up!
1. Chapter One

Working On It

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, except for the OCs. And one character, named Marin Macer, is based off of one of my friends; I have her permission and everything.

Summary: Jaina and her apprentice pick up Zekk and his apprentice when they're stranded on Commenor and then takes them to Mon Cal. On Mon Cal, turns out Zekk doesn't have a place to live on there yet and Jaina invites him to stay with her. Jaina and Jag aren't together and he _will_ not make an appearance on my watch. J/Z, sorry for the crappy summary, I'm not too good at this. Flames allowed, but NO one disses the pairing, or Zekk!!! Just so y'all know, Jaina's 24 and Zekk's 26.

Warning: May have extreme levels of stupidity, so watch out.

_Italics_ thoughts

Chapter One: Oh joy I get an all expense paid retrieval mission/vacation to Commenor. boy wants.

The started off normal enough, with Jaina and Kionne scrambling to get to the hangar so Jaina can have fun teaching the green pilots. The got there only to see Jaina's favorite person, her commanding officer, General Shnickie. The guy had come out of no where and started bossing Jaina around like she was his subordinate. Somehow, he had passed her up in the ranks and became a general. It annoyed her to no end that the man boasted about everything he did and asked her out. She had answered him by threatening to punch in his face. Now don't get me wrong, the guy was easy on the eyes with wavy blond hair and gray eyes, well toned body, and a killer grin. But he was like one of those men who always thought that they were better than everyone and an attention seeker. Okay, enough with the babbling, let's see what the pretty

"General, how pleasant it is to see you this morning," Jaina said, the look on her face saying exactly the opposite.

The Shnickie gave her a toothy grin and bowed to her.

"Now, now, Jaina, how many times have I told you to call me Jixon?" Shnickie asked.

"And how many times have I told you that it's Colonel Solo." Jaina had officially lost all patience and decided to stop beating around the bush and ask what he wanted. "What the kriff do you want anyways?"

"Ahh, charming to the last, well you see, I've been thinking that you need a vacation. So I found an easy retrieval assignment to Commenor, " he started, "you see, we've received a distress signal that stated that we have a Jedi Knight and his apprentice stranded on planet. And I took the liberty of claiming the job for you."

Jaina glared at him. Her short temper was growing shorter by the nanosecond. "Excuse me, sir, but with no due respect, I don't want the job. I'm quite happy training the greenies. Give it to someone else," Jaina said.

The General dropped his smile and he glared back at Jaina.

"Unfortunately, _Colonel_ Solo I'm giving you a direct order to go, now is there anything else you'll be wanting?" Jixon regained his smile back on his face.

When Jaina was about to tell the General that she wanted to punch his perfect face in, Kionne stepped between them and smiled sweetly at the General.

"Sir, my master would like to have the jump coordinates and where she should pick the Jedi up," Kionne said.

"Very well, it will be delivered to your quarters. Colonel, you better start packing, you're going to be leaving at 1500 hours."

Jaina fumed and opened her mouth but didn't get to say anything because Kionne dragged her away. When they were out of earshot Jaina turned to her apprentice and glare at her. Kionne was a 13 year old human spliced with Mon Calamari DNA. She had salmon colored skin, blue eyes, and white-blond hair. Kionne was like Jaina's little guardian and attempted to stop her from doing stupid things, it didn't always work, but it was for Jaina's own good. She made sure that Jaina got up in the morning and didn't overwork herself.

"Kionne, what the heck?! I didn't wanna go on this stupid assignment!" Jaina said.

"Well, if you had refused the way I think you were going to then he probably would have suspended you."

"But still, you're supposed to be on my side!"

"Master, let's just make the most of this, okay? Look on the bright side; you can sleep in all the way to Commenor."

Jaina grinned at the sudden realization and gave an excited yell. "I didn't think about that. You're right! Let's get going!

Commenor docking bays, 3 days later 

"Master, who's supposed to be picking us up?" asked a girl around 13 years old.

A man turned to the girl and shrugged. "I don't know they didn't say."

"Okay, when are they going to get here?"

"Soon."

Same place, but Jaina's landing 

Jaina landed the ship in the designated docking bays. They had taken a government ship to the planet and were told that the Jedi would meet them in the docking bays. Jaina sensed 2 people, one familiar and the other not. She and Kionne calmly walked down the ramp and were enthusiastically greeted by a girl with short blond hair and pale green eyes wearing a cat ear head band.

"Mrow! Hiya, are you guys here to pick us up?" she asked.

Kionne yelped in surprise and half hid behind Jaina. "Err, yeah. Umm, I'm Kionne."

"Hi, Kionne, my name's Marin Macer! Nice to meet you! Do you like Inu Yasha?"

"Umm, I've never heard of it."

"What?! You're kidding me! I must show you the beauty that is Inu Yasha!" Marin dragged Kionne onto the ship, leaving Jaina alone to deal with her master.

Jaina peered around curiously, trying to find the guy. He came in through the entrance way and Jaina gasped. Jaina stared at his familiar emerald green eyes and long ebony hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. Oh crap, it was Zekk. Jaina, of course, didn't notice that Zekk was staring at her with the same surprised look on his face that she was wearing.

Noticing that an uncomfortable silence had fallen over both of them Jaina cleared her throat and said, "Long time no see, huh?"

Zekk nodded in a trancelike fashion. A couple seconds later he shook his head and gave her a smile. "No kidding."

"Yeah, umm, maybe we should start going now?"

"Sure."

Jaina half ran up the ramp and into the cockpit. She hadn't noticed that Zekk had followed her until he had sat down in the co-pilot chair and started helping her with the pre-flight check. Absently she wondered why she hadn't sensed him, but didn't wonder anymore about it until they were out of the atmosphere and into hyperspace.

"So, how have you been doing, lately?"

Jaina started and looked over at him. He was looking expectantly at her, which caught Jaina momentarily off guard.

"Err… Okay, I got a jerk for a General, but other than that life's been pretty good. You?"

"Well enough. How's Jag?"

Jaina shifted uncomfortably. "We broke up about two years ago."

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't be, it was for the best and we put it off for too long."

They were both silent for a few minutes before Jaina got up and said that she was going to start making dinner. She walked out of cockpit and glanced at the lounge where Marin was educating a wide-eyed Kionne about whatever the heck she was going on about. Jaina walked to the food prep and started to prepare the meal. A few minutes later Zekk came in holding his and Marin's duffel bags.

"Where's the bunk room?"

"Umm, go past the lounge and it's the only door on the right. The free bunks are the ones closest to the door," Jaina answered.

"Thanks, Jay," Zekk said before walking away.

Jaina blinked in surprise. _Did he just call me Jay? I guess he's not too angry about Hapes. Maybe we can fix our friendship… hopefully. _

10 minutes until the ship comes out of hyperspace in Mon Calamari 

The trip had gone on without much trouble and now everyone was congregated in the small cockpit.

"Where are you guys gonna be staying on planet?" Kionne asked.

"We don't have a place to stay."

"Really? Then you can stay with Master and me! That's okay right, Master?" Kionne looked at Jaina hopefully.

"Meow, that would be ssssssoooooo great! Can we, please, Master Solo?"

"I wouldn't want to burden them, Marin. Don't worry about it, Jay, we'll just find a hotel to stay in until we can get a place on planet."

"But that would take too long! There isn't enough space on planet."

"We'll manage, I don't want—"

"No, Zekk, Kionne's right, like she usually is. There are still too many refugees coming in. You guys better stay with us. It's easier and not too mention cheaper."

"Yay, Marin, we're gonna be roomies!"

"Mrow! That's so great! I can hardly wait!"

"Kionne, you do know that you're not going to have your own room anymore, right?"

"That's okay. I don't mind at all."

"Good, then we don't have a problem. Oh look, we're exiting hyperspace in 1 minute."

The girls buckled up and Jaina and Zekk prepared to pull the ship out of hyperspace.

-End of Chapter-

Sorry it was so short. Umm, I'll make it longer next time, I promise. Please review if you want.


	2. First Day As Roomies

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, it belongs to George Lucas. The only thing I own is Kionne, so yay for me! Sorry for the breaks in the story, because I _had_ them pretty good and didn't notice it wasn't working until it was to late, so I'm gonna fix that. I don't own Inu Yasha, belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. By the way, Marin is actually based on a friend and whatever Marin does, it's a good bet that she does it in real life, but there will be some originality in there to brake away from the actual person.

Story breaks are the four pairs of "Xa" that you're gonna see.

Thanks to all reviewer/readers. I'm going to do the response at the beginning… for once:

**Kazzy:** You're absolutely right! J/Z ALL THE WAY! Err… Best not to get me started. I agree that OC's are sometimes hard to warm up to but, Marin really isn't mine. Like I said, she's based on one of my friends. Thank you!

**Neo-Paladin:** Thank you, there really isn't enough J/Z out there… I better stop before I start to rant again.

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** Thanks for your support. Again, I shall say… J/Z ALL THE WAY! I'm glad that you liked Marin and Kionne. I thought that Jaina would need an apprentice who would _try_ and keep her out of trouble. Note the key word is 'try'. I thought it would be kinda fun to mix in a little anime; besides Marin wouldn't be Marin if there wasn't any anime. And I would post this on TF.N but, that's where all the _good_ authors are and I'm definitely not up to their level yet. Haha, Jag _is_ evil, there is no doubt about it. Yay, you play the violin! Did you name yours? 'Cause I named mine… Rossini. Hmm… well I never could resist such good bribery as chocolate, so… without further ado…

HERE IT IS!

Chapter Two: First Day as Roomies

_(Jaina's apartment, 30 minutes later) _

Jaina palmed open the door and waltzed in, with the others following her.

"We'll have to key the door to let you palm in, but for now, I'll just give you the code, 'kay?" Jaina said.

"Yeah, sure," Zekk said. "Thanks, Jaina, but you didn't have to do this."

"Don't worry about it. That's what friends do for each other right?" Jaina asked.

She glanced over to see his reaction and gave a small smile when she saw his nod. The apartment was normal sized; it had an average sized room with a kitchen/dining room off to the side. Then there was a hallway that led to the bedrooms and the fresher. Jaina's room was the first on the right, with Kionne's opposite of hers. The room after Kionne's was the 'fresher and parallel to that was Jaina's office.

"Zekk, you're gonna stay in my room, but you're going to have to wait a few minutes, 'cause I gotta move all my stuff into my office," Jaina said.

"That's suitable, Master, considering you barely spend any time in your own room anyways," Kionne quipped.

"Ha ha, very funny, Kionne," Jaina said.

"I know, isn't it?"

Jaina rolled her eyes and muttered, "Brat."

"Jaina, I don't want you to go through too much trouble, I'll sleep in the office."

"Nonsense, you're a guest and besides, Lowie's slept on the cot in there and it's probably still covered in Wookiee fur. I wouldn't subject anyone inhaling Wookiee hair all night," Jaina said and rushed to her room and started grabbing her stuff. Zekk followed blocked her in the door way.

"Jaina, I can't let you move out of your room just for me. You stay here, and I'll sleep on the Wookiee fur cot."

"No way, you're a guest. I'm going to sleep on the Wookiee cot and there's nothing you can do about it."

Zekk opened his mouth to protest again, but was cut off by Kionne saying, "Just let her have her way. She always gets it in the end anyways."

Zekk laughed. He turned to look at Kionne and said, "You know, I think I'm going to get along very well with you." Zekk turned back to look at Jaina only to find that she had slipped past him into the office. "Hey, hold on a minute, I didn't say that you could move into the office."

"Well, I said I could move into there, and my word overrules all," Jaina said.

"Wow, you really haven't changed, have you, Jaina?" Zekk asked.

"Duh."

Zekk stuck his head in her office. It was pretty small with a cluttered desk in the center, a filing cabinet in a corner, and a Wookiee size cot in the other corner. Zekk raised an eyebrow when he saw Jaina open one of the drawers in the filing cabinet, grab a handful of flimsies and dumped them on the floor. He watched her dup another stack before saying, "Jaina, you're making this room messier that it already is."

"I know, I'm clearing these out so I can put my clothes in them," Jaina said. She turned around and walked past him out the door.

Jaina finished emptying out her dresser and started on the closet when Zekk came in. He sat on the bed, watching her for a moment. Then he called out, "Since you're being obstinate about sleeping in your office just leave the stuff you don't use on an everyday basis in here, 'kay? I don't wanna make you give up your whole room."

"You're not—"

"Just do what I say."

For once, Jaina actually listened and did as she was told.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment, still; around 1:16 am)_

Zekk came ran out of his room and jogged into the 'fresher. When he came out, Zekk saw a light still coming from Jaina's office. Curiosity got the better of him and he knocked on the door before entering. Jaina was poring over a datapad, with other strewn across the desk.

"Jaina, what are you doing?"

Jaina jumped and looked up at him. "Huh? Oh, hi, Zekk, I'm just going over all the crap I missed."

He sat down on the cot and glanced at it. On closer examination, you could actually make out the strands of ginger fur that was littered on the blanket. There was even a bit on the pillow. The cot, itself, felt hard and uncomfortable.

"You should get to bed," Jaina stated, still looking at her datapad. She glanced over at a piece of flimsi every few seconds, as if checking the two. Then, she picked up another datapad and compared it to the one she held in her hand. Jaina made a "tsking" noise and shook her head.

"I could say the same to you."

"I slept all the way to Commenor. I'm good for a while."

"Really?"

"Yes, oh sith, I almost forgot! Tahiri gave me holos from her wedding. I got extra copies and I thought that you might like them since you couldn't go." Jaina rummaged around in her desk for a few moments before triumphantly pulling out a data chip. She tossed it to Zekk and he caught glancing over it for a moment.

Both looked to the door when they heard someone knock. Kionne stuck her head in and said, "Okay, kiddies, time for bed."

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "Kionne, you're the one who needs all the sleep, and what are you doing up?"

"I woke up to use the 'fresher. Master, please go to bed. I don't wanna have any more difficulties waking you up than I already do."

"Okay, I promise you that I will get to bed soon," Jaina said.

"Good, thank you." Kionne pulled her head out of the doorway. Zekk looked at Jaina with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"You mean you still are hard to get up in the morning?" He seemed to be very amused and was slightly smirking at her. "And you have your apprentice wake you up."

Jaina blushed and looked down at the datapads on her desk. "I can't help it. Sleeping is so much better than being awake. Honestly, you don't have to do anything except for snore every now and then."

Zekk laughed. "You have a very, umm, weird definition of sleep, Jay."

Jaina laughed a bit and smiled. "I know, and speaking of sleep, get the hell outta my room. I'm going to bed."

Zekk chuckled as he walked out.

XaXaXaXa-

The morning was very slow. Jaina was in a nasty mood until she had her morning cup of caf. Zekk had found this highly amusing until he got a forkful of eggs launched into his face. Before he could retaliate, Kionne came in and told Jaina the time. And so, 5 minutes before she had to be at work, Jaina was rushing out the door with Kionne in tow, leaving Zekk and Marin to amuse themselves.

"Master, what are we going to do today?" Marin asked. She was sitting backwards in the couch watching as Zekk wiped the remainder of the eggs from his face.

"Well, we're going to send Master Skywalker a report on our mission and work on your blocking," Zekk said. "Then after that I have

Marin made a face. Zekk laughed and ruffled her hair. "Can't we just go to the Otaku convention that's on planet? It'll be much more fun!" She swooned as she thought of the amber eyed dog demon. "Inu Yasha!"

Zekk rolled his eyes. "You do know that he's not real, right?"

"What! How dare you speak such a way about Inuyasha! He's real!"

"Whatever you say, but we're still going to practice on your blocking."

Marin grumbled and looked around for her lighsaber before following him out the door.

XaXaXaXa-

Marin was bored; there was no way around it. Zekk had left her there before he went off to report on their mission. At first she had been happy to be left alone in a new place. She explored the apartment and learned where everything was. After that, Marin had tried to meditate, read a book chip, sleep, and watch the Holonet; but nothing seemed to work.

Her state of bored thoughts was interrupted by the door sliding open and Kionne walking in. She smiled at Marin and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Hello, Marin; what are you doing here with out Master Zekk?"

"Zekk left me here 'cause he thought I would get bored at the meeting, but I'm bored here. So, what are you doing here?"

"Jaina sent me home because she's giving some of the trouble-makers in her squadron punishment work. She told me that what she was going to make them do was embarrassing enough without having a 13 year old watch."

"Mrow." Marin looked around the room before an idea struck her, literally. She had absentmindedly tried to call her manga chip of Inu Yasha to her and it whacked her in the noggin. She looked at it and the glow lamp above her head turned on. She turned to Kionne. "Why'd you turn on the glow lamp? It was bright enough in here already."

"Oops sorry." Kionne turned off the light.

"Meow, Kionne, I have an idea. There's this convention on planet and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me."

"Okay, but, don't we have to ask our masters?"

"Umm… how about we just ask Jaina? Zekk's probably too busy right now."

Kionne nodded and walked over to the comm unit. She dialed Jaina's number and it started ringing. After 3 rings, Kionne got the answer of, "What!"

"Umm… MastercanMarinandIgotoaconvention," Kionne said all in one breath.

"Can you repeat that?"

"I said-"

"Hold on a minute," Jaina interrupted. Kionne could hear shouting in the background that was soon joined by her master's voice. The shouting went on for about 3 minutes longer before it all went suspiciously quiet. "Okay, now what were you going to say."

"Can Marin and I go to a convention today?" Kionne asked.

"Where is it?"

"Let me check." Kionne looked at Marin who held up a poster. She squinted and scanned it until she saw the date. "It's on the west side of town, in the convention room of the Shell Dance hotel."

Kionne heard Jaina sigh. "Alright, you two can go. Just come down here first."

"Yes Master."

Kionne turned off the comm and looked over to Marin. She was dressed in a tight fitting black and pink armor with a red sash around her waist and an old fashioned katana sword strapped next to her lightsaber. She had a boomerang on her back and a black-haired wig with a ponytail. Kionne raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What are you wearing?"

Marin looked at her in shock. "_I_ am dressed as the great demon slayer, Sango! Now, time to get you into your costume."

"Wah?" Kionne backed away into a corner and was trapped.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Twin Suns headquarters, Jaina's office) _

Jaina burst out laughing when the two girls walked in. "What in Emperor's black bones are you two wearing," she managed between laughs.

Marin grinned and Kionne blushed. Marin had gotten Kionne to wear a white shirt, called a _haori_ (a haori is a shirt that has two slits wear the seams meet at the top and you normally wear it over a kimono), that was over another shirt called a _kimono_. Her pants wear wide and they showed a bit of the white _kimono_. On her back were a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Marin had tried to get Kionne to wear a black wig but Kionne drew the line right there. The only modern thing on Kionne besides her boots, was her lightsaber, which hung in its customary olace on the left hip.

"Marin made me do it, Master," Kionne said, shooting a glare at Marin. "Otherwise, I would be in my normal clothes."

"I wish Master Zekk would've let me go this morning," Marin said wistfully. "I would've had so much fun giving him a character to dress up as."

Jaina chuckled. "I'd pay big money to see that. And speaking of which, does Zekk know where you're going, Marin?"

"Mrow, can't you just… tell him for us? Please?"

"I don't-"

"What the sith!"

The girls turned to the door and saw Zekk walking in as it closed. He was looking at Kionne and Marin with an expression that said he didn't know whether to laugh or be embarrassed. He gave Jaina a questioning glance before looking back at the two girls.

"Master, we were just talking about you," Marin said. "Can I go to the Otaku convention with Kionne?"

"Wasn't that the thing you were trying to get me to go to earlier today?"

"Yes."

"I guess you can go, as long as it's okay with you, Jay." He shot Jaina another questioning look and received a nod for his answer. "Well then, I want you back at Jaina's at 2100, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Marin gave him a mock salute before running out of the door, dragging Kionne out after her.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's office, Zekk's POV, sorta)_

After Kionne and Marin left, Zekk collapsed in a chair across from Jaina. He saw her smile at him and opened her mouth to say something, but got cut off by someone knocking at the door.

"Come in," Jaina called. When she saw who it was, Jaina grimaced and said, "On second thought, you can stay out."

The person walked into the room regardless. It was a man that had blond hair, gray eyes, and the classic good looks that most females swoon over. He flashed Jaina a charming smile that turned into a sneer when he saw Zekk. "Who is this exactly?"

"He's my best friend and also one of the people you sent me to retrieve. Zekk and his apprentice are staying with Kionne and me for a while," Jaina answered.

Zekk remained silent as he processed the first few words of her sentence. _'He's my best friend'_, so that's were he stood in Jaina's life. He had been wondering that one for a few kriffin' years; it's not like he would be anything more to her. The familiar uprising of melancholy was fought down when Zekk felt Jaina's Force presence. He decided that he would just observe what would happen in this exchange unless he was spoken too.

Although Jaina's face remained impassive, Zekk felt her hostility and strong dislike for the man in the room. Zekk, himself, started to feel antagonism towards the man. For some reason unknown to him, Zekk felt the need to divert Jaina's attention away from the stranger who she was currently glaring at.

"Ahh… so who is he and why is he staying with you?" Zekk decided that he was going to call this man Mr. Pompous-Hutt-Licker. The name just suited him in Zekk's mind frame.

"His name's Zekk and it isn't any of your business as to why he's staying at my home, _General_." Jaina hated this guy. It was official.

The man waved his hand dismissively. "I was just concerned about the welfare of my best and favorite squadron leader." Jaina and Zekk both rolled their eyes. "I also wanted to know if you have the roster down for your squadron."

"I have it right here, sir. But there's one little problem, I came up 3 short, due to casualties from our last few fights." He heard the carefully disguised pain in her voice. Jaina's presence was flickered also flickered with passing pain and guilt. He'd have to ask her about that later.

"Very well then, we can discuss the candidates for your open spots over dinner tonight, maybe?" What the kriff! Couldn't the man wait until Zekk wasn't in the room to ask her out?

"Sorry, sir, I'm regretfully unable to dine with you this evening." Zekk snorted at this. Mr. Pompous-Hutt-Licker looked shocked, then angry.

"And why is that?"

"Oh, you know, I gotta get this and that done, watch that one show, and do my laundry; you know, all that normal stuff," Jaina replied sweetly. The look on Mr. Pompous-Hutt-Licker's face was priceless. Zekk had a hard time holding in his laughter.

"Fine then, decide for yourself who you want in your damn squadron, I don't care." With that, he walked out of the room and let Zekk finally burst into the laughter that had previously been held in.

Once he had calmed down, Zekk looked back to Jaina to see her staring at him with an amused expression on her face.

"Enjoyed the show?"

"Oh yes, and you must tell me, what was stuck up that guy's butt?"

Jaina burst into a fit of laughter before answering. "It might be that that was the 16th time I've turned him down for a date."

"Really? Wow, judging by his attitude I would've have thought it was more."

Again, Zekk's statement was first met by Jaina's laughter. "Yes, well, he annoys me so much that every chance I get I take him down a couple of notches in front of his superiors and others."

"Well, if you want, you can complain to me and try to lower him farther down than I already think of him, on our way back to your place."

Jaina smiled and nodded before she quickly grabbed a few things off of her desk, ushered him out of the room, and locked her office door. She took the arm that Zekk had mockingly held out for her and they chatted on their way to Jaina's quarters.

TBC-

I don't really think this is that good of a chapter, but oh well. I at least hope that you guys liked it! Review if you want, and chocolate to all of those that do read it! Don't forget, I will allow flames, but no putting down the pairing or Zekk.

Next Chapter: Kionne and Marin have fun at the Otaku convention and J/Z bonding!


	3. She Married Who?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Kionne and any other random people I decide to throw in to make a "plot". All Star Wars characters belong to George Lucas and any anime characters in this chapter (I don't know who they're going to be yet) belong to their respective owners. Btw, I have never really been to an otaku before but I've heard about 'em!

For all the people that reviewed,I'm not going to answer the reviews until the end of the chapter this time because I'm experimenting with which ways arebest. As a matter of fact, please tell me which way you like authors to answer reviews (stupid question, but please do it). So scan for my response down at the bottom somewhere. Also I would like to know if you want a recap from the previous chapter. I'm not going to do that this time but I may or may not next time. Give me any more suggestions that will make this story easier for you to read.

Chapter Three: She Married Who! And Otaku Here We Come!

Kionne was amazed. Marin looked like a black and pink blur dragging a red and white blur along the streets. There were only two people she had seen move this fast. Jaina, when she saw a new model of a ship, and Lowie when he was hungry. Kionne vaguely wondered if the super speed was affected by how obsessed the person was with the object. Judging by how fast Marin was sprinting, she really loved this Otakun, whatever that was. Kionne's thoughts were distracted as she attempted to keep up with to keep up with her new friend. After a while, she started to feel her muscles protest and knew that she couldn't keep this up for long. She Force-shoved Marin onto a bench and Kionne collapsed on the ground next to it.

Marin looked at her indignantly. "Meow! What did you do that for?"

"Sorry, Marin," Kionne said, panting in between each word. "I think we can get there faster if we take a taxi."

"A taxi? But I heard that on Mon Cal that there's only the turbolifts and passenger cars that go to specifically defined areas."

"Marin, is this your first time here?"

"Yes, the only other planets I've been to are Ossus, Commenor, Corellia, Zonama Sekot, and Kegan, but that doesn't really count since it's my home planet."

"Well, it's only on the ground that we have those limitations. Honestly, we're like every other planet. We do have air taxis, but we also have water taxis, too," Kionne explained.

Marin looked sheepish as Kionne just smiled and scanned the air for a taxi. Spotting one, she did what most of the normal people did. Kionne waved her hand and whistled loudly, but the hand wave was accented by a small Force suggestion just in case. The cab flew over and landed at a nearby platform. Kionne raced over and claimed it before anyone else could, despite her exhaustion. She waited for Marin to get in before telling the droid driver their destination.

The ride went smoothly and they arrived at the Shell Dance Hotel. Kionne inserted the credits into the payment slot and then followed Marin out of the cab. Marin dragged her over to the hotel and through the front doors. People who were in the lobby gave them weird looks until Marin grabbed a Mon Calamari in the hotel's uniform. He merely glanced at them before motioning to a set of double doors off to the side of the library. "The Otakun convention is in there."

Marin gave an excited "mrow" and dragged Kionne to the door. She whipped them open and both girls gasped.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment, at the same time as Kionne and Marin are getting into the air taxi)_

Zekk peered at the wedding party holosof his friend Tahiri. Jaina had been the maid of honor, looking quite nice in the blue dress_… No, no, no, bad Zekk, banish _those_ thoughts from your mind_. He looked over at the groom and groomsmen andthen rubbed his eyes. He hadn't drank anything alcoholic today, so he know that he wasn't seeing double. The Best Man and groom were identical brothers with sand-colored hair and blue-gray eyes. "So, that's the guy Tahiri married? I don't think I've seen or heard of him."

"Oh, really? His name's Mystiran Kenys. He's in my squadron as one of my senior officers along with his twin brother Alaric. They're both Jedi, only a year younger than us, and just plain odd."

Zekk raised an eyebrow. "Odd? How?"

"Well… 'Ran pretty much is the person we look to if we want to go on a mission incognito, if you know what I mean. Al doesn't really know what goes on outside of his computer. You'll notice him soon enough. He's the guy who wanders around with the half vacant look on his face;occasionally he'll run into a wall. He's also friends with Ghent, so that explains some things."

Zekk blinked andthen clicked to another picture. It was thewedding reception and Jaina was caught being forced to dance with one of the twins-Alaric, judging from the large "A" written on the back of his suit in white paint. Jaina was laughing about something and Alaric was grinning. Zekk gave asmall smile before quickly turning to another holo. This one was the groom (he had a big "M" on the back of his suit) and Tahiri dancing. After that, it was the groom again, this time he was dancing with a woman who looked almost exactly like him, just slightly older.

He nudged Jaina, who looked at the holo. "Who's the woman dancing with…?"

"Mystiran?"

"Yeah, him."

"That woman is his older sister, Cassiel. She's a doctor."

"Ahh, she's not a Jedi?"

"Nope."

Zekk looked over the rest of the holos, laughing occasionally. It was around 4:30 when he was done. Jaina had left him at the kitchen table to go look for something to watch on the Holonet 30 minutes prior. He joined her on the couch and looked at the holoscreen. She was watching Hapan news with an annoyed expression on her face. Jacen and Tenel Ka were standing next to each other at a press conference. Zekk grabbed the remote from the table and turned it up.

"Hello, my children," Tenel Ka said. The corners of her mouth were lifted up and Zekk watched with interest, wondering what could have made her so happy. "As you know, I have been courting Jacen Solo for the past few months-"

Jaina made an outraged noise. Zekk looked at her curiously. "What? I thought you and Tenel Ka were on good terms."

"We are, that sithspawned brother of mine failed to mention that he and Tenel Ka were going out when I called him 3 weeks ago."

"And we are to be wed in the 5 standard months. So, good people of Hapes, I give you your new prince," Tenel Ka finished.

Jacen smiled, nodded, and grabbedTenel Ka's only hand before the feed was cut off and taken back to normal news. Jaina muttered something and turned off the holoscreen. She stood up, walked over comm unit, and started to send a message. Zekk couldn't hear what she was saying, but Jaina sat back down on the couch again a few minutes later with a very satisfied smirk on her face. She grabbed the remote and turned on the holoscreen but changed the channel.

Zekk grew worried. Whenever Jaina had that self-satisfied look like that on her face that normally meant something bad for another person, and he had a feeling that this time that person was Jacen. So, because of his concern for Jacen's well-being, he asked, "Jaina, what did you do now?"

She put an innocent look her face. Yep, she was definitely up to something. "Me? Do something? I have no idea what you're talking about."

If it wasn't obvious before that Jaina was doing something, then it was now. Zekk had seen that innocent routine done on others so many times that he didn't fall for it anymore. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now out with it, Solo."

Jaina scowled, then said, "Well-"

XaXaXaXa-

_(Shell Dance Hotel, Otaku convention)_

The girls stared with wide eyes at the sight before them. Hundreds of people were milling about in the room, most of them dressed as some random character from a show and few walked around in normal clothes. There were stands set up all around the room; it was loud and slightly crowded. Kionne's eyes moved from one thing to the next at high speeds. A group of people clad in weird costumes at a nearby stand started to shriek and yell.

"KAWAII!" One girl shrieked. She was a human with black hair swished around while the she circled another girl and her amethyst eyes sparkled with joy. She was dressed in a short skirt and her shirt was in the design of some old-fashioned sailor suit that had been worn a long time ago. She was also holding a holocam in one hand and was filming another member of the group.

The girl she was filming was a Twi'lek with a short, brown wig on over her lekku. She was wearing a short black dress that had a pink apron over it. The dress poofed out from the ruffled petticoats underneath it. On top of the wig there was a cat-eared headband similar to the one that Marin had been wearing when Kionne had met her. She held an odd looking staff with both hands. Its head was bird shaped with a beak and two small white wings on either side. The body of the staff was pink and it ended with a red and gold jewel.

Marin snorted at them, grabbed Kionne, and dragged her over to a table that was selling posters. While Marin shuffled through them, Kionne continued to watch all the other people with interest. One man had a blond wig on his head that sort of looked like a broom and wore a long blood-red coat with a dangerous-looking blaster at his side. There was a Mon Calamari female standing next to him in normal clothes, shaking her head and saying, "You'll never make a good Vash without donuts and his sunglasses."

"I couldn't find any of those glasses and the donut shops were all closed!" the man whined.

Kionne's attention was again diverted when a man with vermillion hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek started walking over to the same stand they were at. He had violet eyes and was smiling serenely. He walked up the Rodian behind the table at the stand and pointed to a poster.

"This one would like to have that poster please," he said.

Marin turned and started laughing before grabbing onto Kionne's sleeve and dragging her away. A person wearing blue and black robes approached them. He was holding a gold staff that had a circle on the top separated by three rings.

"Good Sango costume," the man commented He looked at Kionneand then said, "You would be a pretty good Kikyo if your skin wasn't so pink and you didn't have blond hair." He then jerked a thumb behind him and looked at Marin. "You might not want to take the Kikyo over there. Some fanatical InuKag fans are over there."

Marin blinked. "How do you know?"

"Because they're all dressed as Kagome and squealing over an Inu poster."

"There's an Inuyasha poster over there!" Marin squealed. She grabbed Kionne and dragged her over.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Back at Jaina's apartment)_

"Jaina, you're evil, pure evil," Zekk stated as hesat back and stared at her.

She nodded in acknowledgement and said, "And you're just figuring this out now?"

Zekk launched a bit of his dinner at her and the food fight began. They had ordered takeout because both of them were too lazy to get up and cook. And now, their dinner was strewn across the floor, on the table, on their faces, in their hair, and of course, on their clothes. When both had run out of ammo, they first looked at the room, then ateach other, and thenback at the room before bursting into laughter. Jaina sat on the floor once she had calmed down and started remove bits of food from herself. Zekk sat down next to her and tugged a piece of greenery out of his hair.

Jaina surveyed the kitchen before shaking her head. "We're going to have to clean this all up now."

"Yes, one of the many responsibilities of having a food fight. Don't you have a cleaning droid of some sort? Sith, even a protocol droid would work."

"Nope, we don't. If we did then I probably would have shot it by now. _Especially_, if it was a protocol droid."

"That's true," Zekk said. "The last thing anyone needs is a second Threepio."

"Yes, yes, now stop changing the subject and help me get to work on cleaning the room."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Still at Jaina's apartment only it's about 7:45pm, it's in the weird Zekk POV sorta thing, again)_

After they had finished cleaning the kitchen, Jaina and Zekk sat on the couch and watched the Holonet. During this time, Zekk noticed Jaina was becomingmore and more introspective. When he attempted to probe her emotions for a hint as to how she was feeling, he found that Jaina had shut him out. Zekk was starting to feel very uncomfortable, until Jaina said something out of nowhere that really confused him.

"I'm sorry."

He blinked and looked curiously at her. Sorry? What was she sorry about? The only recent thing that might call for an apology was her launching a good portion of her pasta at him. Onlythat didn't really need an apology, because he had dumped a bowl of mounder potato rice onto her head. "What are you sorry about?"

"Everything."

"Everything? What do you mean? I was the one who started the food fight. There's no reason for-"

"No, not that! I'm sorry about…"

Now he was really confused. Why didn't she just blurt it out? Normally, she didn't have a problem with being blunt, and nearly downright tactless, but now… Well, let's just say that he couldn't figure it out for the life of him.

"Jay, just spit it out."

"I'm sorry about what happened on Hapes."

Oh… _that_ was what she was talking about. Zekk's face fell as the memories of that time resurfaced again. He had known, of course, that this topic was going to come up. He just wanted it to. Everything was going almost as it had in the old days, when they hadn't worriedabout ifthey would see tomorrow come or not.

Hapes held too many unhappy thoughts for him. Jaina pushing him away and going to someone else for comfort was the most painful. Of course, it wasn't as fresh a wound as it had been, but that still didn't make it any less painful. After all, how would you feel if the person who saved you from the dark side, cared about most, and shared almost every happy childhood moment with, was suddenly pushing you aside and replacing you with some… stranger.

He attempted to say something but it only came out as a grunt. He tried again and his throat decided to work, somewhat. It came out a bit squeaky, but he was sure she wouldn't notice. "Hapes? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. I was acting like a spoiled little kid who had its favorite toy taken away. I didn't give you or anyone else a chance. It was wrong of me; I was a jerk, brat, and all that other stuff." Zekk opened his mouth to try and say something but Jaina cut him off before he could. "Don't even say I wasn't, because I was. I realize that now. I had no excuse to do what I did to you and the others, especially you."

Zekk's eyes widened and he blinked for a moment in surprise. First of all, Jaina Solo, a _Solo_ for kriff's sake, had just apologized; secondly, she had apologized to him no less. His mind seemed to finally register these facts, and he raised a hand and cut her off from babbling. "Jaina, shut up and let me get some things said too."

Much to his surprise, Jaina actually did what he said without protest, and looked at him like a child learning life's meaning. "Jaina, you weren't the only one who did something they regretted at that time, you know." He held up his hand again when she opened her mouth to protest. "Yes, I know you did a lot, but you weren't alone. I wasn't too happy with myself, either. Jaina, I'm sorry that I left."

"But that wasn't your fault!" Jaina protested. "I was-"

"Shut up for a minute and let me speak, please," Zekk interrupted. He cleared his throat and continued on. "I know you pushed me away, but I didn't really try all my hardest to make you open up. To be honest, I was afraid. Afraid for you and of you, I was worried that if you went over completely and no else was left but me that I'd have to… I'd have to…" He took a deep breath and continued, "I'd have to stop you. I knew that I couldn't do that, so I left. But that isn't all, though."

Jaina looked at him curiously. Again, she opened her mouth only to close it again when Zekk held up his hand. "I was afraid…" Crap, this confession stuff had been easier at first. It's really hard to say something that you've kept shut inside for so long. "Jaina, I was afraid that if I couldn't take you down, that I would fall… again."

He waited in silence as she absorbed this. He tensed when he realized that this might be the end of their rebuilding friendship. He was so worried that he didn't notice that Jaina had started speaking until he heard his name mentioned. "What did you say?"

"I said I understand, Zekk. I was letting grief take control of me and I wasn't thinking straight. It's only natural that you would feel that way. After all, you were pretty much against the dark side after… well you know."

"But Kyp-"

"Kyp is reckless and he doesn't listen to caution as much as he should. Besides, I think that turning me away from the dark side was another way for him to try and fill his debt that he thinks he owes my family."

"Yes, but-"

"Zekk, we already apologized and I really think you don't have that much of a reason to apologize, but it's your decision. The only thing that I care about is if you still want to, you know become friends again."

Zekk grinned at her. "I thought we were already friends."

She laughed and hit him on the arm. The tension in the room was broken and Zekk could fell a weight that he hadn't known being lifted from his shoulders. He gave her a small smile and then retaliated by hitting her with a pillow. Jaina's reaction was interrupted by Kionne and Marin running into the apartment. Both girls were panting and the only thing they said for an explanation was, "Crazy InuKag fans!"

TBC-

Well, I'm slightly depressed. How sad is that? I just depressed myself with that last bit of the chapter. Oh well, it had to be done sometime. I thought it would be better to get it off the plate now, rather than dealing with it later. I just hope it wasn't too soon and the chapter was okay

Reviews:

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer: **I'm surprised. You think this is good enough to add to the J/Z index. Actually, what I really mean to say is… THERE'S GOING TO BE A J/Z INDEX! I really need to get out more. How could I have not heard of that? Oh well, please tell me when it's up! I'd love to check it out! I definitely agree there needs to be more J/Z, considering I feel like I'm one of the few who aren't being converted to J/K. I named my violin Rossini b/c I love to play the William Tell overture. Marin's so interesting in real life that I _had_ to use her as a character. It would've been a crime for me to not do that. I'm glad someone appreciates my humor. Thank you for reviewing!

**To All Reviewers:** I'm not sure if I said this before but… I'm not above bribing people to review so I'm going to leave out chocolate, cookies, and all that good stuff okay? And if you want, press the little button in the lower, left hand corner. I enjoy meeting new people!


	4. Meet Alaric Or is it Mystiran?

Disclaimer: I own nothing! It all belongs to George Lucas! Unless… Do you think he'll be willing to trade for a couple of candy bars I have leftover from Easter?

Chapter Four: Meet Alaric… Or is it Mystiran?

"What do you mean?" Jaina asked. She looked at her apprentice and Marin with a worried look. "Are you two alright?"

Marin and Kionne looked panicked. They turned to each other and said, "Do you think they followed us?"

"Who followed you?" Zekk asked.

Marin threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Them!"

"Them who?" Jaina questioned.

"The crazy InuKag fans that I accidentally offended," Marin said.

Jaina and Zekk exchanged looks of concern. "What did you do, Marin?" Zekk asked.

"Well, I went to go see this really cool Inuyasha poster and there were all these girls dressed like Kagome and hugging a really cute Inu plushie. They started glaring at Kionne 'cause she's dressed like Kikyo and everyone knows that most InuKag fans _loathe_ Kikyo." Marin looked at Kionne, Jaina, and Zekk for confirmation that they knew this. They gave confused nods and she continued. "I bought the poster and that's when I noticed that the girls were glaring at Kionne. So I asked them what their problem was and-"

"One of the girls gestured to me and said 'Why did you bring a Kikyo fan over here?'" Kionne interrupted. "Then I asked who Kikyo was and everyone ignored me. Marin asked the girl what was wrong with my costume and another one of the girls said that Kikyo was evil and shouldn't exist. Marin responded by telling her that it may be true, but Kagome shouldn't exist either. Marin also said that Kagome was just as bad as Kikyo because she was Kikyo's…" Kionne looked confused and Marin jumped back into the conversation.

"Because Kagome is Kikyo's reincarnation," Marin explained. "The girls got really mad at me and started chasing us. So we ran and then ended up here."

Zekk and Jaina exchanged an amused glance before turning back to their apprentices. Kionne looked tired and slightly scared and Marin was back to her bubbly, happy self. Apparently, their day's adventures hadn't shaken her a bit. Marin was grinning at them cheerfully.

"I'm going to change out of this costume, it's starting to itch," Marin said. She skipped off to the room she shared with Kionne.

Kionne looked at her master and Zekk, and then glanced around room. "Well, the house isn't destroyed, I guess Ishould be grateful," Kionne commented.

"You thought we would destroy the house?" Jaina queried curiously.

"Yes, either that or you would blow it up," Kionne answered.

"What made you think that I would blow our house up?" Jaina asked.

"Well… There was that one time I left you alone and you decided you were going to clean up the house. It looked like an earthquake and hurricane had happened simultaneously in here!" Kionne exclaimed.

"Umm…" Jaina couldn't think of a response.

Zekk burst out laughing, making Jaina blush. She whacked him on the arm, causing him to stop to rub his arm.

"So what have you guys been doing since we left?" Kionne asked.

"Nothing much, just sitting around-"Jaina started.

"Watching the Holonet," Zekk added.

"Eating a bit, wait… Have you two had dinner yet?" Jaina asked.

"No… is there any left?" Kionne looked slightly hungry.

Marin bounded into the room and beamed at everyone. "I'm starved!" she announced.

Marin ran off into the kitchen. Kionne ran off after her to help with the raiding of the leftovers.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Morning, Jaina's office; with some weirdo blond guys sitting in it)_

"Al, you're not supposed to be eating the Goddess's chocolate supply," oneman told the other. They were identical twins with sand-colored hair and liquid blue-grey eyes.

The man referred to as "Al" snorted. "Great One shouldn't have left 10 perfectly good chocolate bars in her desk. It's her own fault that I'm currently feasting on these delightful treats, 'Ran."

"'Ran" snorted and shook his head. "What the Sith have you been doing on the kriffin' computer of yours? Normally you're not so eloquent."

"The computer's done nothing to me. I just had an extremely strong pot of caf this morning."

"So that's why you were practically dancing through the halls. You know, that wall really didn't move into your way. There was no reason for you to Force push it."

"Kriffin' wall got in my way!" Al, normally known as Alaric Kenys, yelled. "It hurt really badly!"

"Al, you're acting like a 5-year-old," 'Ran, or Mystiran Kenys, told him.

"I am not acting like a 5 yr. old, you old coot!" Alaric sat down in Jaina's chair. Much to his delight, he found that it was one of those excellent spinny chairs. He started out slowly and steadily started to spin faster and faster.

"Old coot! I'm only eight minutes older than you!"

"I'm gonna be ssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccckkkkkkkkk!" Alaric stated as he spun.

Mystiran jumped out of the way as his brother went flying out of his chair. Alaric swayed around in a circle and if this had been a cartoon, then there would be definite swirly-eye action. He slowly tried to stand up and lurched from foot to foot until he regained his balance. The man gave an idiotic grin and ran back to the chair.

'Ran shook his head as he watched Alaric consume another chocolate bar. That would be his fourth one since they had entered Jaina's office. It was amazing how stupid and energetic his brother could get when he was taken away from his computer. He also vaguely wondered if someone had spiked his brother's caf with andris but had to reconsider that idea. He turned when the door opened, admitting Jaina and her apprentice, Kionne.

In his mind, both were pretty decent people. Kionne and Jaina could walk silently with all their flight gear on and that was no easy feat. Currently, Jaina was gaping at the hyperactive Alaric while Kionne was attempting not to break into laughter.

"What is he doing in my chair?" Jaina asked.

"Well, it appears to me, oh Great One, that my dearest brother is spinning until he gets himself sick," Mystiran drawled.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Jaina shot back.

"That's Major Obvious, I'll have you know," Mystiran retorted.

Everyone watched as Alaric hurtled into the air and then raced back to the chair again. Kionne decided not to hold in her mirth anymore and burst into laughter.

"What's wrong with him?" Jaina asked as she watched Al scream 'whee' as he spun around in her chair.

"Apparently he had a far too strong pot of caf," Mystiran said. Then, almost as an after thought, added, "And your chocolate."

"My chocolate!" Jaina screeched.

Jaina somehow got a hold of Alaric. She also managed to drag him into a chair and got him to stay there. Of course, Alaric was screaming, "I want the spinny chair! I want the spinny chair! I want the spinny chair!"

Jaina sat down at her desk and glared at him. "Alaric Kenys, you need to calm down. And you also need to repay me for all the chocolate bars that you ate."

"But I only ate 4!" Alaric protested as he held up three fingers.

Jaina gave him a weird look. "Al, are you okay?"

"Al, hee, hee. That's a funny name."

"Master Kenys, are you alright?" Kionne asked.

"Which one?" Mystiran asked.

"The crazy one," Kionne answered. "As a matter of fact, Master, I'm going to take Master Kenys to Cilghal to see if she can do anything with him."

Kionne walked over to the man and gently pulled him out of the chair and started to lead him out of the room. As the door was closing, they could here Al saying, "Did you know you have pink skin? Pink skin's funny."

Jaina looked to Mystiran with a raised eyebrow. "Well, what were you two doing in here anyways?"

"We were assigned by General-What's-His-Face to give you some possible candidates for your squadron. You're supposed to narrow it down to a few candidates and then Al and I are to help you pick 3 to fill the empty spots."

"Good, good," Jaina said. "When do I have to have the spots filled?"

"By next Wednesday at the latest."

"Only 5 days? Well I guess that won't be so bad. How many applicants are there?"

"About 2,587; well it looks like you're going to be busy for a while, so I'll be leaving you with these," Mystiran dumped a nice stack of data chips on her desk. "And now, I'm going to go visit my darling wife for a bit, so have fun, Goddess."

Jaina sat in a stunned silence, staring at the file reports with a shocked expression. She grimaced and then started on the boring task set before her.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment, after work)_

"Kionne, is there some reason that you have Al here?" Jaina asked. She hadn't been in the friendliest of moods since she had been given her nicely sized mountain of paperwork.

"He hit his head on the door to the med room. I'm afraid he's been a bit out of it since. I was worried he would injure himself further if I left him alone so I brought him here," Kionne answered.

A few seconds after Jaina came in, Zekk and Marin arrived.

"Good Afternoon, Jaina," Marin greeted.

"What's so kriffin' good about it?"

"Gee, what's got you in such a wonderful mood?" Zekk asked.

"She got a lot of paperwork," Kionne said.

"Hiya, Uncle Bobo!" Al said to Kionne.

Zekk and Marin stared at him. He gave them a loopy smile before falling onto the couch. They looked at Jaina then at Alaric and then back to Jaina. Zekk pointed to the unconscious man. "Friend of yours?" he asked Jaina.

"I guess, but after he ate my chocolate this morning I'm not so sure," Jaina muttered.

"Master, be nice," Kionne admonished. "The poor man had too much caf. He couldn't help it. It turns out that he has ADHD, so that didn't help matters at all."

Jaina scowled and muttered something about work before wandering down the hallway to her "room". Marin shrugged and sat down in the chair, smiling happily at them. "Soooo… it sounds like you had an interesting morning, Kionne. What happened?" Marin asked.

Zekk sat down in another chair and looked at her expectantly. "I'd also like to know."

"Well…" Kionne started. She gave a brief version of what happened and ended with Alaric cracking his head on the door. "You see, it's one of those old fashioned doors that you have to push or pull open but he didn't realize that because he was hyper beyond all reasoning. The door was partially opened and Master Kenys totally miscalculated the positioning of the door and ran smack-dab into it. That's how he got even loopier in the head."

Zekk nodded and glanced at the man on the couch. So this was Alaric Kenys. The man was snoring and drool was coming out of the side of his mouth. All in all, this was not what Zekk had expected from someone in Jaina's squadron and a supposed technology expert. The man looked like he was a big 8-year-old almost. Alaric snorted and muttered something about flying banthas and dancing Wookiees. This caused Zekk to wonder what the Sith that man was dreaming about, but decided not to think about it.

He glanced at the apprentices. Marin was attempting to tell Kionne something, who looked more confused than a Gungan in a desert. His stomach started to growl so he got up and went to get food. He opened the fridge and looked inside. On the door there was blue milk that was a week past its expiration date, and a bottle of some yellowish green stuff (what the kriff!). In the main part there was a Tupperware container, overripe fruit, and some funny looking green stuff that Zekk swore he saw move. He sighed and groaned. He reached a cautious hand out for the Tupperware, gently opened the lid, and peeked inside.

There was a fuzzy white fungus growing on a leftover nerf steak. It had a sickly sweet smell and looked like it was about to attack him. Zekk quickly closed the lid. He stood and walked back into the living room. "Kionne, when was the last time you and Jaina went grocery shopping?" Zekk asked.

"I don't know, I think it was about 3 ½ weeks ago… Why?" Kionne answered.

"Well, your fridge is bare, and there's things growing in it. Very err… questionable things," Zekk explained.

"Ooh, ooh, I wanna see, I wanna see!" Marin exclaimed as she raced to the kitchen. Kionne followed, also curious about what was growing in the fridge. You could hear shrieks of, "That's disgusting!" and, "Did that meat loaf just move?"

When the girls returned, Kionne looked mortified and Marin was between grossed out and amused. Zekk raised an eyebrow as Kionne sat down and muttered something about cleaning the fridge.

"Girls, I'm going to go get Jaina and get some food, okay?" Zekk announced. They nodded. Zekk jerked a thumb towards the still sleeping Alaric. "I want you guys to keep an eye on sleeping beauty."

Marin gave a mock salute. "Yes, sir, General Zekk, sir!"

He laughed and ruffled her hair before walking down the hall to Jaina's office. Without bothering to knock, Zekk strode right in the room. Jaina again was poring over a datapad. She was muttering something to herself and seemed half-asleep. She glanced up when he walked into the room, andthen went back to working.

"Jay, you have a problem. A big one," Zekk commented as he sat on the cot and then lounged down on it.

Jaina looked up with an alarmed expression. "Oh no, Al didn't mess with my Holonet connection did he? I hope none of those singing Hutts come again."

"It's nothing about- wait, what singing Hutts?"

"Umm… don't worry about it. So what's the problem?" Jaina asked.

"You have nothing edible in your fridge!"

"So? Kionne and I don't usually have enough time to cook, so we order takeout most of the time."

"C'mon, we're going to get some Sith-spawned food!" Zekk exclaimed.

He grabbed Jaina's arm and dragged her out of the room ashe made his way through the living room with Marin calling out, "Where are you two going?"

"Out," Zekk replied, "we'll be back some time later."

"Bye!" Marin called, waving enthusiastically.

Zekk dragged a stunned and confused Jaina out of the apartment.

TBC-

This is where I should insert 'cackles' in asterisks, but I can't because FF.N won't let me. Here are the review replies:

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** Wow, other people aside from me like my humor! I did well at a description? Hold on, I gotta see if there are pigs flying… Thanks!

**Dragonsdaughter:** Thank you, I'm glad you like it.


	5. Grocery shopping

Disclaimer: I own nothing! But that doesn't mean I don't want to own it. Oh well, I guess you'll be wanting the chapter now, won't you? Well, I'm not giving it! Okay, okay, I lied, I am…

Btw, the phrase "Kava doompa D'Imperiolo stupa" means "you're a lowdown Imperial fool." I didn't really feel like trying to remember the word "jerk" in Huttese so I just went with what first came to mind. Just for those who want to know, I got that out of the Galatic Phrase Book and Travel Guide… or something to that effect.

Chapter Five: Grocery Shopping

"Zekk, I don't see why you had to drag me out of the house."

"I guess I did get a bit carried away, but I'm starving and you don't have anything to eat!"

"We would've had leftovers if someone hadn't decided to start a food fight."

"You were the one who fired back."

"That was self-defense!"

"Oh, sure, I believe you."

"Kava doompa D'imperiolo stupa!"

"What?"

"I'm not translating; figure it out for yourself."

"That's not nice."

"Go kiss a Hutt."

"That's gross."

Jaina and Zekk were walking down the stairway of Jaina's apartment building due to the fact that the turbolifts were down. They finally trudged down the final few steps. Zekk sighed and looked around.

"Do you have a speeder?" he asked, looking around the parking lot andtrying to identify which one would be hers.

"Yes."

"Where is it?"

"At the Mon Calamari military headquarters."

He looked at her with a curious face. "Why is it there?"

"Lowie and I took it apart."

"Why?"

"We wanted to see if it needed a tune up. It was making some funny noises. It turned out that there was a dead fish in it. I'm still not entirely sure how it got there."

"How long ago was that?"

"A couple months."

They turned onto a pedestrian walk with Zekk walking alongside Jaina.

"You're getting lazy," Zekk muttered.

Unfortunately, Jaina heard him and whacked him in the shoulder for his trouble. "I am not! I've been really busy lately!"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure you have."

She punched him in the arm again. Zekk rubbed it and murmured, "What is this? 'Beat up on Zekk' day?"

They came to an intersection in the streets and Jaina looked around. Catching sight of a taxi, she held one hand up and gave the ship a small nudge with the Force. It landed in front of them and Jaina climbed in with Zekk following.

"Where to, Mister and/or Miss?" the driver asked.

"Nearest grocery store, please," Jaina responded.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment, somewhere around the same time)_

Meanwhile, at Jaina's apartment, a certain someone happened to be waking up from a sugar-induced coma. He blinked sleepily and stared around at the unfamiliar setting. He yawned widely and felt like his whole body was full of lead. Distantly, he heard two voices speaking, both female sounding. Alaric Kenys yawned again, still trying to get a bearing on his surroundings. See a holopic nearby he glanced at, hoping it would give him some clue as to where he is.

It was a family shot of very familiar people but his brain was still shut down, so he processed everyone very slowly. There was some blond guy with streaks of grey in his hair, standing next to a red-head that was holding a red-headed little boy. Next to them was an old guy with salt and pepper hair with his arm around two brunettes. One of the brunettes was an older woman, presumably the mother, and the other was a younger woman bearing great resemblance to the older woman. Next to the young woman was a brown haired man who had hair and eyes that were the same color as the younger woman's and also bore great resemblance to the old man. Finally, it clicked in his brain.

_I'm in Jaina Solo's apartment,_ he thought. _Wait a nanosecond! Why am I in the Goddess's apartment! _

He desperately tried to think of what he had been doing that day. Okay,woke up, made/drank caf, met up with his brother, spun around in a chair, went to med ward, and walked into a door- Ah hah! So that's what happened! Feeling rather proud of himself for figuring it out, Alaric stood up. It took him a few moments to notice a blinding pain in his head, but when he did, he let loose a torrent of words that would've made his mother wash his mouth out with 10 bars of soap.

He walked to the kitchen and pried the freezer door open. Spying an ice pack, he grabbed it and wrapped it in a towel. Then he placed it on his head. Humming an old song to himself, Alaric opened the fridge door and looked for some food. Spying a Tupperware container, Alaric took it out and looked inside. It was a nerf steak that had some fuzzy white stuff on it.

_Hmm… must be some special seasoning_, Al thought as he grabbed a fork and sat down with his meal on the couch. He flipped on the holoscreen before digging in his fork and taking a bite. It tasted slightly odd, not really how a nerf steak was supposed to taste. It didn't taste bad, just odd. The Goddess must have unusual tastes in food.

He looked up as two girls walked into the room. One was Jaina's pink-skinned apprentice (which he thought was very funny), Kionne, and some other girl who he didn't recognize. Alaric gave them a nod in greeting and went back to eating and watching the holoscreen. Kionne and Girl-He-Didn't-Know came over to take a peek at what he was eating.

Girl-He-Didn't-Know gave a loud 'eww', sounding more amused than disgusted and Kionne shrieked, "You shouldn't be eating that!"

Alaric gave them a confused look. "What? It's only nerf steak."

"Nerf steak with white fuzzy stuff growing on it," Girl-He-Didn't-Know commented, looking at the steak with great interest. "What's it taste like?"

"Not half bad, it's kinda rubbery but after you get over that it tastes pretty good," Alaric answered.

"That's gross!" Kionne exclaimed. "It has fungus growing on it Master Kenys!"

"It does? Where?" He asked, peering at the steak.

"It's the fuzzy white stuff!" Kionne pointed to it.

"Really? I thought that was just some weird seasoning you guys put on your nerf steak," Alaric stated.

Kionne apparently thought he was being sarcastic. "Argh! Master Kenys, you knew that was fungus!"

"No, I didn't."

"Then what's with the sarcasm?"

"I was being sarcastic? But don't you have to know that you're being sarcastic to be sarcastic?" Alaric was confused. It was far too soon after waking up for him to be thinking.

Girl-He-Didn't-Know tapped Kionne on the shoulder. She whispered something to Kionne who looked at her and said, "Oh, never mind, Master Kenys."

Now he was really befuddled. Never mind what? Absent mindedly, he took a bite of the nerf steak. This action caused Kionne and Girl-He-Didn't-Know to freak out and start shrieking.

"Master Kenys, do you have any idea what that could be doing to your digestive system?" Kionne asked.

"Don't worry; my stomach's as hard as a rock. In fact, one of my mom's favorite stories to tell is me eating half of a 20 year old fruitcake when I was seven. She says that I was perfectly fine after I ate it, but my twin, Mystiran, was sick for a few days after he ate it," Alaric commented.

"So what does it taste like, again?" Girl-He-Didn't-Know asked.

"Not half bad, a little chewy but it still goes down."

"That is so gross!" Kionne exclaimed.

"Not really," Alaric admitted, "you should see me eat muja fruit and ketchup. 'Ran nearly gets sick every time I do that in front of him."

"Muja and ketchup? That sounds gross," Girl-He-Didn't-Know stated. She blinked and then said after a few seconds, "Oh, by the way, Master Kenys, my name's Marin Macer."

Alaric shook her hand and said, "I'm Alaric Kenys."

He ate another piece of the steak, making Kionne shudder.

"Master Kenys," Kionne started, "could you please not do that? I'll do anything!"

Alaric grinned. "Okay, but you guys have to play a game with me." He gestured the girls to the general direction of the kitchen table while he put the Tupperware container in the sink. As he seated himself at the table with them, Al pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket. While he dealt them out he said, "Okay, ladies, the name of the game is-"

XaXaXaXa-

_(Some random grocery store)_

"Jay, why are you just throwing random things into the cart?"

"I'm not throwing 'random things', Zekk; I do look at what they are."

"For about 5 seconds."

"I have a lot to do and since you've insisted on getting food into the house-"

"That's not a crime, Jay, it's human nature to want to eat. Besides, you can get back to work later."

Jaina halted and turned around. She had a murderous gleam in her eye. Zekk panicked. He hadn't said anything offensive, had he?

"Get back to work later?" Her voice was dangerously low and she was moving towards him, causing Zekk to take a few steps back. For her short height, Jaina sure was intimidating. "I have to sift through 2,587 profiles of different candidates to fill 3 spots in my squadron, in the span of 5 days! I don't have any time to waste on the pointless activity of getting food!"

She had backed him into a shelf, glaring up at him. Zekk was torn between making a 'short' joke (because standing next tohim only made her already noticeable lack of height stand out even more) and hiding behind something to escape her wrath. He chose the latter, figuring that now would not be a good time to remind her of her height, which was already a touchy subject. Zekk took the ostrich way out and closed his eyes. He waited a couple of seconds for the verbal lashing or a whack in the shins (the only part she could effectively injure at the moment), but none came. He opened one eyelid to see Jaina inspecting some fruit.

A relieved sigh escaped from him before he could stop it. Zekk walked over to Jaina and stood next to her. Her expression was a familiar smirk that she only wore when she wasparticularly proud of something and wanted the whole world to know.

"Scared, were you?" Jaina asked.

"Wha-? I wasn't…" He realized denial would be pointless. Evidently his panic in which methods she would use to kill him had shown through the Force. "Shut up."

Jaina stuck her tongue out at him. "It was funny to watch you squirm."

"Are you sure you've recovered from your slide to the dark side? 'Cause that was definitely Sith-like."

"Dunno, ask anyone in my squadron and they'll say I'm a Sith Lord, ask anyone else and I'm not sure what they'd say, nor do I really care."

He rolled his eyes. Some things might have changed, but that part of her hadn't. She still didn't give a crap what people thought of her. Jaina walked on, this time going slower. An hour later, the two were done shopping with enough food for roughly two weeks. They hailed another cab and somehow managed to stuff 18 grocery bags and themselves into it.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment, w/ Jaya and Zekk just coming through the door)_

Jaina and Zekk walked through the doors, each holding 6 bags with the other 6 floating behind them. The scene that greeted them as they approached the kitchen area was an odd one to say the least. At the table sat Alaric, Kionne, and Marin. Each had a solemn expression on his or her face. Zekk and Jaina observed what they were doing with great interest. They were playing some sort of card game and apparently it needed very intense concentration. Each tried to figure what they were playing but failed. With bated breath they watched as Marin opened her mouth, hoping to get some sort of clue as to what the name of the game was.

"Go fish," Marin stated firmly.

Al groaned and grabbed a card from a pile in the center. Kionne smirked at him and said, "Master Kenys, I believe that has been the eighth time you've been told to 'go fish'. I think I remember you saying that no one could stand up to you in this game." **(ha ha)**

"Did you know that you're a brat?" Alaric asked with a scowl.

"I've been telling her that for a long time," Jaina cut in, "if she doesn't know that yet, then she really hanging around my brother too much."

Alaric, Kionne, and Marin looked up at them. Kionne smiled at her. "Master, you tell me that three times a week."

"I'm obviously not doing it enough then. Now all three of you come help us," Jaina ordered.

Al looked confused and was going to protest but Jaina dumped the bag with the milk jug into his lap. He squeaked and then grabbed the bag off his lap and stood up to assist them. It took a lot of maneuvering around the kitchen for all of them to fit in the small space and put groceries away. After 15 minutes, every food item was put in an appropriate place and the rotten stuff was thrown out.

Eventually, Jaina sent Al home and got back to work. Kionne and Marin stayed up watching anime until they fell asleep on the couch. Zekk bugged Jaina once every hour until she finally went to bed at one in the morning.

TBC-

And that concludes this chapter. Next time will be a few weeks later and there'll be a bunch of familiar faces coming in. So until next time!

Reviews:

**Dragonsdaughter1:** I'm so sorry! I didn't see you when I was writing reviews for chapter 3! Thank you!

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** Thanks for telling me about the editing thing! The caf and sugar comes from personal experience because at a friend of mine's party, people were mixing pixie sticks with Mountain Dew (I don't own either of those!), things got pretty scary. Thanks for reviewing!

**SeekeroftheCharter:** Thanks! Yippee, another person who thinks Jaina and Zekk should be together. There are too few of us out there.


	6. The Appearance of Old Friends

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say this to those mean lawyer guys? I don't own Star Wars.

Chapter Six: The Appearance of Old Friends

Two months had passed since Zekk and Marin had moved in. Things had fallen into a routine for the quartet and they now functioned quite well together. If one slacked off on chores, the other three people were there to hound them about it. They even did a bit of training together. Training together worked out quite nicely, becauseMarin would complain about meditation and Kionne would complain about Marin complaining. Of course there were a few awkward moments involving two of our favorite adults, but other than that everything went smoothly, until one sunny weekend morning, whena loud and insistent knock was sounded on the door.

Zekk was at the sims that morning and Marin and Kionne were at the beach with some of Kionne's friends. Jaina, on the other hand, was making an attempt to sleep in that glorious morning, only to be roused from her bed at 1000, grumpy and tired.

She mumbled to her herself as she stumbled off the cot and made her way to the door. By now, the door chime was ringing after each knock creating an incessant and annoying noise that would wake even the dead. She whacked the door controls and watched as it slid open.

At the door were Tahiri, the Kenys twins, and Lowie. Each of them held some dish of food in their hands. They were all peering at Jaina curiously and she vaguely wondered why. She gestured them in before walking over to a chair and flopping down in it. She was half asleep by the time everyone was situated in a spot most comfortable for them. It took a bit of prodding from Lowie for Jaina to snap back to attention.

"What the Hutt slime are you guys doing here?" Jaina blurted out.

Tahiri looked momentarily confused before she said in her usual energetic tone, "You sent us an invitation for a party that's being held for Jacen and Tenel Ka. You said that you wanted us here early to help set up. The invite told to bring some sort of food too."

Jaina nearly fell out of her chair from shock. "What party? I didn't know anything about this!"

"What do you mean? The address from the invitation was sent from you," Mystiran said.

"Gah! It's all Jacen's fault! He's doing this to get back at me!" Jaina exclaimed.

"Why? What did you do?" Tahiri asked.

"Well, since he didn't tell me that he was going to pop the question to Tenel Ka, I arranged to have his hair dyed electric blue, everything from datapads and datacards that he owned to play a very charming song in Ewok, and programmed his holoscreen to play a recording of Lando singing," Jaina listed.

Everyone flinched. Lando's singing left much to be desired.

"So, you did this all at a long distance?" Mystiran asked. "By yourself?"

"I enlisted Al's help, of course," Jaina commented. "I sent him my instructions and he did the hacking into files and such."

Al grinned. "That was fun. Almost as fun when Jacen asked me to hack into your Holonet file and send out all these funny little things."

Jaina whipped around and stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Your brother told me that you needed some invites sent out or something like that and you couldn't get onto your file. So he told me to hack in for you and send them. So I did," Al answered. His confusion was evident in his face and voice.

"Jacen was trying to get back at me, I guess, probably hoping that I would be caught at a bad time. Did he say if he was going to be here at all?" Jaina queried.

Al sat for a few minutes, thinking. "Umm… he'll probably be here around 1900."

"Good, good, and now all we have to do is play along with his little plan," Jaina said.

"Why?" Tahiri asked.

"Well, I don't want poor Jasa's ego crushed. He might've worked really hard and that just wouldn't be nice." Jaina's facial expression was saying the exact opposite. "Okay, people, we need to give out cleaning assignments. Now, who wants to do the toilet?"

Al's hand shot up immediately. He waved it frantically in the air and accompanied his waves with shouts of, "Me! Oh, pick me! I wanna clean the potty!"

"Nuh uh, I wanna clean the potty!" Mystiran exclaimed raising his hand in the air and copied his brother.

Soon, this escalated into a shouting/attention match between the boys. Jaina looked back and forth. Tahiri put her head in her hands and shook it in shame. Finally, Jaina had experiencedenough.

"QUIET!" Needless to say the boys shut up. Jaina looked them both in the eye and stated clearly, "You two can both clean the bathroom, now get going."

"I claim toilet bowl!" Mystiran said.

"No, I do. You always get to clean the toilet bowl," Al whined. Their argument drifted out of earshot as they went to the clean the bathroom.

"C'mon, Tahiri, let's go clean the kitchen up," Jaina muttered.

XaXaXaXa-

_(With Zekk) _

He cheerfully walked back to Jaina's apartment building. Despite the fact that he had resided with Jaina for the past few months and had nearly begun to think of the apartment as home, he still referred to it as Jaina's place. He couldn't allow himself to think of it as home because sometime he would have to leave. That thought nearly pulled him out of his good mood. Determined not to think of his inevitable leaving, Zekk steered his thoughts away.

The base wasn't too far of a walk, just 10 minutes or so, combined with his morning in the sims and walking up all of the stairs (Jaina's apartment was on the top floor and the turbolifts were still down);he had worked up a good sweat and thirst. He fumbled with the palm lock-Jaina had finally got it tuned to his hand- and walked inside. The murmurs of arguing voices were faintly heard as he made his way to the kitchen. Making sure thatno one was too close, Zekk opened the fridge door and grabbed out the blue milk jug. Once more, he checked to see if anyone was close to the kitchen. He then popped the top off and drank from the jug.

"So you're the milk thief."

Zekk turned -still drinking out of the jug- and looked toward the voice he knew well. Jaina was shaking her head at him and shaking her finger. He slowly lowered the jug away from his mouth, looking sheepish. "You caught me red-handed," Zekk said.

"Yes, well, we can't do anything about that now, can we? Just don't do it again, use a glass next time," Jaina ordered.

Zekk mock saluted and Jaina slapped his arm -or would have, if Zekk hadn't grabbed her hand. Jaina laughed and tried to tug her hand away, but Zekk pulled her to him. He grabbed her other hand and grinned. "Looks like you're caught, Goddess."

"That isn't fair. You got me off guard," Jaina said in mock-complaint.

Zekk rolled his eyes and looked down at her. He noticed how close their bodies were and felt a blush begin to creep up his face. Jaina cocked her head in confusion. "Zekk?"

Her voice sounded light-years away as he found himself suddenly lost in her eyes. Slowly, he lowered his face to hers until they were barely centimeters apart.

"Jaina? Did you find the spare towels? 'Ran is starting to throw water at Al again and you know that it won't take long for Al to figure out what's hitting him- OH NO! MYSTIRAN KENYS I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Tahiri yelled.

Zekk and Jaina immediately sprang apart and while he was mentally cursing Tahiri for her extremely bad timing, he could've sworn he saw Jaina have a fleeting look of annoyance on her face, but it hadpassed by the time he looked back at her.

Jaina quickly grabbed the towels and walked out of the kitchen, wondering what had just happened. She pushed aside her thoughts for later, however, when she arrived at the bathroom or battlefield depending on how one looked at it. There was water everywhere and even the occasional bubble from soap that the twins had launched at each other. Apparently, their version of "cleaning" involved a very violent water fight that left them and everything in the room soaked.

A dripping Tahiri was glaring at a sheepish-looking Mystiran, who was flinching away from the petite blond and gesturing frantically and wordlessly at Alaric. Al was trying to wring the water out of his shirt. The water was twisted out of his shirt and on to the floor. Jaina glared at this and carefully stalked into the hazard zone.

"Al, what do you think you're doing?" Jaina asked.

The man looked up and smiled innocently at her. "What ever do you mean, oh Great One?"

Her eyes narrowed and Jaina pointed to the puddle that was forming at Alaric's feet and wordlessly thrust a towel into his hands. She handed a towel to Tahiri – who had stopped glaring at Mystiran – and then gave one to Mystiran himself. She spun on her heel and into Zekk.

She wobbled on the slick floor before falling flat on her bottom. Pain shot through her lower back side and Jaina did exactly what her father taught her to do in a situation such as this – curse loudly and fluently.

Her outburst was covered by the peals of laughter coming from the people whom she had considered some of her closest friends. Jaina glared up at Zekk - who was obviously the closest to her - until he helped her up. Zekk easily reached down and tugged Jaina up. Jaina glanced up and caught his gaze. Momentarily, Jaina felt herself become lost in his eyes, but snapped out of it quickly.

_What is up with me today? First the kitchen and now this_, Jaina thought.

No one else seemed to notice her fleeting fascination with Zekk's eyes, not even Zekk himself. He was too busy watching as Alaric and Mystiran made a stab at wiping up the layer of water that covered the floor.

XaXaXaXa-

The crisis in the bathroom was soon averted and with the arrival of Kionne and Marin, things went a lot quicker – mainly because they had more people to watch the Hazard twins, as they started to call Alaric and Mystiran. All of them managed to get the cleaning done before Lowie – who they hadsent out to get some groceries – even came back.

Around 1600, the first few guests arrived. Danni was the first to come; she stopped by for a few minutes – only long enough to tell Jaina to extend her congratulations to the newly betrothed couple – before she had to leave again to go back to work. It wasn't long before the rest of the guests arrived.

Of course Jaina's family members were there, along with many of the people Jaina and Jacen had known most of their lives like Wedge and Lando. Heck, even Kyp was there, though Jacen wasn't overly fond of him.

Almost all had brought some sort of munchie or dish to eat. At about 1800, Jaina, Han, and some other people started cooking the food. Han fired up the grill and nerf steaks and burgers were cooking. Then they made the veggies and set out the remainder of the snacks that were left. The six-year-old Ben was particularly thrilled when they brought out the sweets but was held at bay by Mara.

When the chrono dinged at1900, Jaina started to search for her twin through the Force. As he said he would be, Jacen and Tenel Ka were in the hallway, almost to Jaina's cramped apartment. The door chime was barely heard above the din of voices, but that stopped because it began to ring repeatedly in a row.

Jaina fought her way through the crowd and palmed the door open. She leapt out before it had finished cycling and into her twin's waiting arms. They laughed and Jacen gave his sister a tight squeeze before letting her slip to the floor. He grinned down at her and said, "Hey, Jaya, I think you've gotten shorter since the last time I saw you."

Jaina's eyes narrowed and she kicked him in the shins. He flinched and made a face. Jaina ignored this and turned to Tenel Ka. Her stoic warrior friend still had her signature impassive face. Jaina noticed with pleasure that Tenel Ka had traded in her royal robes for the evening and wore traditional Dathormiran lizard-hide armor, and her hair was also tamed into the warrior braids that Jaina had often seen on the woman when they were younger.

"Tenel Ka, it's good to see you!" Jaina greeted before hugging her. Tenel Ka's only arm squeezed around Jaina in a short hug before she pulled away.

"It is also good to see you to, friend Jaina," Tenel Ka said.

Jaina couldn't say anymore because the betrothed couple was pulled inside and given a proper greeting by the other guests. Jacen was surprised to find out that Zekk was at the party, andhe was even more surprised when he found out that he and Jaina were living together.

"Zekk! I didn't expect you to be here! I tried- err… I mean, I thought an invite was sent to your rooms on Ossus but they said that you weren't there," Jacen said.

Zekk shrugged. "I was on a mission and then Marin got us stranded-"

"It wasn't my fault!" Marin cut in.

"Whatever," Zekk continued. "So Jaina and Kionne were sent to pick us up and when they found out we didn't have anywhere to say they invited us to say here with them."

"So you and Jaina are _living together_!" Jacen asked. He had a bewildered look on his face. "That means that you guys are together, together, right?"

"Huh? What! No! Nothing like that!" Zekk exclaimed, though he couldn't help but mentally adding on the word 'yet'.

Jacen gave him a "yeah right, do you think I'm stupid?" look before he was distracted by a loud yell coming from the kitchen.

The men strained to hear what was going on. Zekk recognized the voices of Marin and the Kenys twins. Marin was screaming something that sounded oddly like, "PIE STALKER!"

The Kenys twins were obviously pleading and then tossed out, judging by the crash landing both had made at Zekk and Jacen's feet.

"What was happening in there?" Jacen asked as he helped them up.

"We only wanted a piece of pie," Mystiran started.

"But your mean apprentice kicked us out before we could get any!" Alaric added.

"We were going to leave a quarter for the rest of you!" both voiced.

Zekk looked amused and Jacen eager.

"There's pie? Well, excuse me, Zekk, I uhh… gotta do some Jedi duties in the kitchen." With that Jacen raced off.

The party continued until the wee hours of the morning. The last people to leave were Jacen and Tenel Ka. Afterwards, Jaina and Zekk sent Kionne and Marin to be. The adults flopped on different pieces of furniture, exhausted from the day.

Their rest was cut short, however, when the door chime rang. Jaina got up, muttering something about it being an indecent hour for people to be bugging others. Zekk waited patiently for the shouting and telling off of the unlucky soul at the door but it never came. He looked up in curiosity only to see Jaina whispering urgently with the person at the door. As abruptly as the person came, he left after a couple of minutes. Jaina, meanwhile, hurried off toward the rooms, ignoring Zekk's questioning glance.

Only when Jaina was about to go out the door, did she turn and say, "Zekk, do you think you could keep an eye on Kionne for me the next the few days?"

He sat up in surprise. "Yeah, sure, Jay, but why?"

"I just got a new mission and it's so late that I don't wanna get Kionne up to take with me this time. I'll see you in a bit." After that was said, Jaina walked out of the apartment without waiting to hear his reply.

TBC-

Muahahahahahaha, it was longer than normal… I think. Well I hope you guys enjoyed that.

1. Wons-wons are some weird food that I got from the New Rebellion and apparently, Wookiees are the only ones who like to eat them.

**Reviews:**

**Ace Ryn Knight:** I'm glad you realized that not all of the J/Z fics are garbage. In fact, I suggest you look at some of Trickster-jz's stories. She has J/Z angst galore and there's even a bit of J/K. Also, try checking out DathomiranAuthorRoamer's J/Z fic. The funny moments normally have me laughing so hard I can barely type. Btw, I found the Galatic Phrase book thingie at Borders. They normally have at least one copy and I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with me being a J/Z fan. I got the book a few years ago, anyways.

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** Arigato, I'm glad you liked it! Mountain Dew and pixie sticks are a very fun combo. (**_evil face_** ) Thankee sankee!

**54388:** lol, hmm… that would be an amusing fight. Gah! I'm being attacked by plot bunnies! Thanks!


	7. Death

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it! I swear.

Chapter Seven: Death

_(With Jaina, in ship, in hyperspace)_

Jaina's head nodded as she dozed off against the wall of the transport. Unfortunately, her doze was cut short by Alaric's insistent shaking of her shoulder. She muttered and pried opened her eyes, glaring slightly at him.

"What do you want, Al? Can't a girl get some kriffin' sleep 'round here?" Jaina rubbed her bleary eyes and waited for a reply.

"You cannaptilate on planet when we're unsafely in enemy territory, Great One, but for now, it's your turn to watch the cockpit thingy majiger," Alaric said.

"Al, 'napitlate' isn't a word," Jaina pointed out.

"Bite me!"

Jaina laughed and got up off the couch. She surveyed the room and people, mentally doing a rerun over the supplies and people needed. She had only brought four other members of her squadron. There was Dai Sona, a green female Twi'lek, Clare Ahearn, a female human who had a fondness for shooting anything that moved, Carey Adair, one of Jaina's most trusted members and a human male, and Mystiran Kenys.

They were currently on a transport heading towards some planet that Jaina couldn't pronounce. Their assignment was to overthrow some mob that controlled everything on planet. Jaina, Clare, Mystiran, and Carey would infiltrate the building while Alaric and Dai operated at the base camp and provided support for the team. As she made her way to the cockpit, Jaina felt a sense of foreboding that she wouldn't see some of these people again.

XaXaXaXa-

_(With Zekk, on Mon Calamari)_

Zekk paced back and forth in Jaina's room. She had only been gone for 5 days and he was already sick with worry. Heck, Jaina might not even be on the planet yet. He didn't have a clue where she was and it irritated him. No one at the military base would tell him and he didn't know anyone in Jaina's squadron except for Mystiran and Alaric Kenys, but they were with Jaina. If it was up to him, he would have been one of the individuals who went with her instead of staying home and worrying. In the back of his mind, Zekk wondered why he hadn't gone gray yet from all of his anxiety.

The chronometer in Jaina's room beeped. It was 300. This was a sleepless night – the same way it had been for every daysince she hadleft. He had tried to sleep, but found that he couldn't, not when Jaina was in some unknown danger and he couldn't protect her. Occasionally, sleep got overtook of him, but his dreams were plagued by visions of his fears and he would wake up immediately.

Days went by without any news. Jaina's team had gone under comm silence as soon as they had entered hostile territory. Now, he would normally be harassing Jaina for information through their recently repaired bond, but she had cut him off. The same went for Kionne, Jacen, Lowie, and everyone else who had tried to reach her. Kionne's explanation for this was that Jaina didn't want to get distracted if anything happened outside of the mission. That had sent Zekk into a nice little fit of mentally cursing Jaina.

He ran his fingers through unbound hair. This was annoying him to no end. When Jaina got back, she was going to get an earful. A couple seconds later Zekk groaned and flopped onto the bed. He stared at the red numbers on the chrono. In two hours the sun would be rising. He rolled over and attempted to get some form of rest.

XaXaXaXa-

_(With Jaina)_

Jaina scowled as she left the room on Carey's arm, pretending to fawn over him. When they were out of surveillance, Jaina let go of his arm and glared at him. Carey was of medium height, about 29 years old with curly brown hair and brown eyes. He grinned down at Jaina.

"Next time you're impersonating-"

"Carey, I hope you and Ellie are happy with only 2 kids because if you continue that sentence then you'll lose all ability to reproduce," Jaina said sweetly.

Carey coughed and looked ahead. "So, Goddess, who's this guy I keep hearing about from Al and 'Ran?"

"Umm… his name's Zekk," Jaina said, averting her eyes.

"Ooooohhhhh, does the Goddess have a crush?" Carey teased.

"No!" Jaina said too quickly. "Now stay in character, you moron, or else we're doomed."

Carey shut his mouth, but he still had a slight smirk on his face.

XaXaXaXa-

_(With Zekk)_

Marin and Kionne had dragged him out of Jaina's room, again. They made him sit down and eat. He grumbled and did as he was told. When he was in the middle of his cereal, the door chime rang. Kionne left to go answer it. When she came back, Jacen was with her. Zekk nodded a greeting and continued to eat.

"So, Zekk, how have you been?" Jacen asked.

"Jace, it's only been a few days since you've last seen me," Zekk said, looking over the holo paper.

"Yeah, well… I know you're really worried about Jaya and all, so I was worried about you a bit," Jacen blurted out.

Zekk rolled his eyes. "There's nothing to worry about, Jacen, I'm fine. Absolutely, positively–" Zekk was cut off by a wave of pain that was not his own.

The pain was mixed with anger, grief, and guilt. It ripped through him. After a second, Zekk figured out that it was Jaina's pain he was feeling. Immediately, he reached out to her and tried to comfort her. Jaina pushed away and withdrew – she blocked him off again. He slowly became aware of his surroundings. Jacen had a look of concentration, Kionne was looking worried, and Marin had a confused expression on her face.

"Kriff you, Jaina!" Jacen exclaimed. "She's blocking me again! How can she block her twin? That's not right! When she gets back I'm gonna–" Zekk stopped listening to Jacen after this point. His breath came slowly as he tried to regain contact with Jaina once more. The only thing he received was a big mental wall that barred his path. He gently nudged only to be pushed back and given a message.

_/Not now, Zekk./ _

Zekk sighed and gave up for the moment. He didn't feel like fighting her right now. Silently, Zekk continued with his breakfast while Jacen ranted and raved away.

XaXaXaXa-

_(5 days later, with Zekk, in Jaina's apartment, around 2:00 pm)_

Zekk lounged on the couch and flipped through holo channels. He was keeping himself busy to keep his mind off the serious lack of news from Jaina. Worrying never did him any good, and after this he would most likely be a lot grayer. There wasn't much he could do about the information part until Jaina got back. The keeping busy also would have been easier if Marin hadn't dragged Kionne off to Sith knows where. Boredom was taking control of his brain and soon –

A presence flooded his senses. Zekk leaned up slightly on the couch, gently giving the being a questioning nudge.

_/Yes, Zekk/_

_/Is it you/_

_/I don't know, is it/ _

_/WHAT THE KRIFF IS THE MATTER WITH YOU/ _

_/Ow, Zekk, no need to shout/ _

_/SHOUTING? I'M NOT SHOUTING? I'M MENTALLY SCREAMING INTO YOUR BRAIN/_

_/It's the same thing./_

_/NO IT – Oh wait… It is. Sorry./_

_/Don't worry about it./_

_/Are you okay, Jay/_

_/Me? I'm fine. Why do you ask/_

_/No reason./_ Zekk's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She was hiding something and he would find out if she was going to tell him or not. _/How close to home are you/ _

_/Check for yourself, lazy bum./_

_/That was uncalled for./_ He reached out and found her shining presence. It was very close to the apartment building. _/Jay, when you get home, we're talking about the mission./_

Jaina sent him a mental sigh. _/I figured you would say that. Okay, talk to you in a few./_

Zekk smiled in satisfaction and settled against the couch to wait.

TBC-

Hehe, sorry it was so late. The original version on a disk was inaccessible and I had to retype it. Before that I had finals and I had to study. So yeah but I'm on summer break now and can devote more of my time to writing. **_…gives readers chocolate Zekks in repentance and bribery…_**

**Reviews:**

**Ace Ryn Knight:** Thank you! I didn't feel sorry for Jacen one bit. Oh, and my favorite NJO book is Traitor but my favorite books are the Hand of Thrawn Duology. I loved those!

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** Thanks! And don't worry about not replying. You were busy and that's totally understandable. I mean, you do have a life outside of writing.

**Aramor Lady of Mirkwood:** Thank you!

**Ice-maiden9191:_ …blushes…_** I don't think it's the best J/Z story out there. There's a lot more better ones out there. Thank you very, very much!


	8. Talking

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. Now, if you excuse me, I think I'm going to go cry over the fact I just stated.

Chapter Eight: Talking

As soon as Jaina walked into the door, Zekk was up in a flash and had her locked into a tight embrace. He was muttering something that sounded like "Sith you, Jaina". He pulled back for a second and gave her a stern look. "If you ever block me again then –"

He let the threat hang in the air and instead pulled Jaina into another bone-crushing hug. She grunted and muttered, "Zekk, I can't breathe."

Zekk immediately pulled away, a blush creeping onto his face. "Sorry, Jaina, I uhh…" _Crap, of all the times to become tongue-tied. _

"Don't worry about it, Zekk. I need to –"

"You don't need to do anything. You're going to sit and tell me what the kriff happened on that mission now."

"Zekk, I don't want –"

"Fine, then, take a quick rest, but when you get up we're talking." Almost instantly Jaina headed towards the hallway. He called to her retreating form, "And don't even think about sneaking out!"

XaXaXaXa-

_(Random hotel suite, with Jacen and Tenel Ka) _

"Tenel?" Jacen walked into the room where his wife-to-be was reading a report sent from Hapes.

"Yes, Jacen?"

"Did we ask Jaina and Zekk what we wanted to ask them?" Jacen plopped down on the couch next to her and rested his head in her lap.

"I do not believe we did." She glanced down at him and gave a slight smile. "Should we comm them and ask?"

"Naw, let's go over instead. Jaina's back, which you know, no doubt, so there shouldn't be much of a problem with us stopping by. What do you think?"

"I do not know. Friend Jaina and friend Zekk might not appreciate us coming by unannounced."

Jacen waved a dismissive hand. "They aren't together, so there isn't anything we can walk in on. I'm sure they won't mind."

Tenel Ka nodded her consent after a moments thought. Jacen grinned and leaned up to give her a quick kiss. He got up and went to search for his shoes.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment, a bit later)_

Jaina and Zekk were fighting over the remote – literally. Jaina had Zekk pinned and was reaching for the device as he held it out right when Jacen and Tenel Ka walked in. Jacen stared openly while Tenel Ka averted her gaze.

Zekk and Jaina looked at each other for a moment and realized the slightly compromising position they were in. They blushed a bright shade of red. Jaina got off of him half a second later. Tenel Ka had a hint of amusement in her grey eyes when she looked back at them. Jacen was still openly gaping, his mouth in the shape of an 'o'. He snapped out of it a few seconds later. "I thought you said you weren't together!"

They went an even brighter shade of red.

"We aren't, Jace," Jaina said quickly - suspiciously quick, if you asked Jacen. "You just caught us at a bad time. We were fighting over the remote."

Jacen gave her a disbelieving look. Then herolled his eyes and looked at them. "Did youguys fight in here or something?"

Feathers and empty pillow cases were strewn about the room. A few cushions from the couch and chairs were all over the room. Speaking of chairs, one had been tipped over by mysterious circumstances.

Somehow, the offending adults went an even brighter shade of red. Zekk coughed and looked at the ceiling while saying, "We had a pillow fight."

"Really? I couldn't tell." Jacen surveyed the wreckage once more. "That had to be one wild fight. Wait a minute, why in Coruscant were you having a pillow fight?"

Jaina and Zekk stood in thought for a moment before shrugging. In unison, they said, "We don't really know. Spur of the moment?"

"Blaster bolts,and I thought I was an idiot at times," Jacen stated.

Jaina snorted and muttered, "Funny, I thought you were an idiot all of the time."

Jacen didn't notice and walked in the room, righted the chair before sitting down in it. Tenel Ka also walked in and sat down next to Jacen.

"Jacen, is there a reason for your intrusion in our private life?" Jaina asked as she perched on the arm of the couch. Zekk put the cushions back onto the couch before sitting down.

Tenel Ka gave Jacen a slightly triumphant look. "We are sorry friend Jaina, friend Zekk, but we have something to ask you."

"Ask away," Zekk said waving his hand.

"Will you guys be a part of our wedding?" Jacen blurted out.

"Uhh… sure," Jaina answered. "Like a bridesmaid or something?"

"Actually, friend Jaina we wish for you to be Maid of Honor and friend Zekk to be Best Man," Tenel Ka corrected.

Zekk blinked in shock. He cocked his head in confusion and absently pulled a feather that somehow became lodged in his hair. "Umm. . . wow, Jace, are you sure you have the right guy?"

"Who else could it be? You've known me since forever!" Jacen exclaimed. His arms made a large sweeping motion to emphasize the forever.

"Jacen, you're exaggerating again," Jaina pointed out. "Tenel Ka, Jasa, I accept your offer."

Zekk still looked hesitant. Jacen frowned and started to list off all the reasons why Zekk should be his best man. "First, you'll know both the bride and groom well; secondly, you're responsible enough not to forget anything; thirdly, you won't get rip-roaring drunk at the reception; fourthly, you'll already know Jaina pretty well." He said this last part with a large, impish grin.

Zekk blushed slightly. Jaina poked him in the arm and he looked up. "Yeah, it's not like you don't know me, Zekk. C'mon, it might be fun. Besides, if I have to wear adress, I'm going to have to take someone down with me."

A small smile tugged at Zekk's mouth and he found himself nodding his consent. Jacen whooped and jumped up. "Great! Now, what do you guys have in your fridge?"

Jacen wondered off, leaving Tenel Ka with Jaina and Zekk. Tenel Ka gave the two a calculating look before nodding to herself. The other two were oblivious to this nod for they started arguing over the remote again. She smiled inwardly and called to Jacen through the Force. A couple seconds later, Jacen was back in the room – he had a couple mujas in his hand – looking at Tenel Ka questioningly.

She glanced towards the door and stood up. After saying goodbyes that went unnoticed, Jacen and Tenel Ka took leave. Outside, Jacen asked, "So why'd you want us to leave, Tenel?"

"Jacen, did you notice that friend Jaina and friend Zekk seemed closer?" Tenel Ka asked.

"Closer? They've always been close," Jacen pointed out. "Ever since we were little, Jay and Zekk seemed really close."

"Ah… aha, but you forget that the war has driven them apart. I believe that friend Jaina has had her feelings for friend Zekk reawakened. And friend Zekk has always had feelings for friend Jaina," Tenel Ka explained.

Jacen was quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, a lopsided grin that made him look remarkably like his father appeared on his face. He nodded to himself and then turned and stated to Tenel Ka, "And I'm going to push them together!"

Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow to him but didn't comment. It was so easy to manipulate him sometimes.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's apartment . . . bah! Is itjust me or do these sound like broken records?) _

Jaina smirked as she changed the channel. This smirk had to do with three things. One, she got the remote; two, Zekk was going to be part of the wedding torture; and three, up to this point she had managed to avoid talking about what happened on her mission. Of course, Jaina knew this couldn't go on forever. She was just waiting until she was summoned to give a briefing. Yeah, that was it! Her hesitation had nothing to do with the fact that every time she thought about it she feltan overwhelming sense of guilt and…

"You don't have to look so self-satisfied." She looked over and saw Zekk looking slightly disgruntled. He was frowning a bit and Jaina grinned at this. "It was only a kriffin' remote."

"You're such a baby, getting all upset over a little argument over the remote." Jaina flipped it to a different channel just to irk him a little more. The longer she kept his mind off talking about the mission the better. Even though bugging the heck out of him wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Zekk's eyes narrowed. He gave Jaina an appraising look before saying, "You better watch it, Solo. You don't know what you're getting into."

Jaina tapped the remote on her knee. "I think I do know what I'm doing, Zekk."

Suddenly, Jaina was pinned down on the couch by Zekk. She froze, staring up at him. Zekk smirked and reached for the remote. As luck would have it, at this exact moment, Kionne and Marin walked came in. Neither girl noticed their masters on the couch until they went over to the sitting area.

"Holy sith!" Kionne yelled.

"Holy Full Metal Alchemist!" Marin exclaimed.

The adults jumped and toppled off the couch. They somehow untangled themselves and stood up blushing.

Kionne grinned and shouted, "Master, you're back!"

This yell was accompanied by Kionne jumping on Jaina, causing her to fall into and knock over Zekk once again. Kionne had disentangled herself easily. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for Jaina and Zekk. When Zekk had attempted to get up the first time his head connected with Jaina's, making them both release a string of curses. A few colorful words later, Jaina became aware just how close Zekk's face was to her own. She blushed and tried to untangle herself. At the same time, Zekk tried to do the same. This resulted in the accidental connection of their mouths.

XaXaXaXa-

Zekk was stunned to say the least. How the kriff did he end up kissing Jaina? Oh yeah, the fluky contact of faces. How cliché. Oh well, might as well enjoy it. In the back of his mind, Zekk realized that the apprentices had left right after they bumped heads the first time. However, he didn't register this at the moment seeing as he was kinda busy. Slowly, Zekk started to pull away, remembering the fact that the apprentices could come back at any moment.

He felt his face heat up and glanced at Jaina. She was blinking in surprise with a slight blush creeping up her face. Zekk cleared his throat and Jaina looked at him. For a brief moment, Zekk thought he saw a loving expression in her eyes but it passed before he could decipher it. Jaina scrambled off of Zekk a few seconds later.

She gave him a slightly awkward smile before running off into the kitchen. Zekk pulled himself up onto the couch. What the Sith hadjust happened? Why, oh why was the Force so cruel? Did it really want him to go through another heartbreak with the same woman? A random and totally irrelevant thought crossed his mind. They still hadn't talked about what happened with her mission.

XaXaXaXa-

Dinner was a totally troublesome affair. Jaina and Zekk were fidgety and uncomfortable. Even Marin noticed that there was a problem. Kionne was looking worried and glanced back and forth between the two. They ate in silence, which was unusual to say the least. Afterwards, Jaina went into her office and Zekk left to go meditate.

Kionne and Marin looked at each other.

"Something's wrong," Kionne stated.

"Yeah, why were Jaina and Master Zekk so quiet?" Marin waved her hands around. "They didn't even react when I started to rave about Ed-kun!"

"Do you think anything happened after we left when they were swearing?" Kionne bit her lower lip. It had seemed a bit quiet for a few moments after they hadleft.

"Maybe they just had a misunderstanding?" Marin offered.

"I guess so, but wouldn't they still be bugging one another?"

"I'm sure this'll all pass over by morning." Marin nodded firmly. "Just you wait. When morning comes, everything will be back to normal." She got up and walked over and started to watch the holovision.

XaXaXaXa-

Zekk arrived back home around 2200. The apartment was as quiet as a tomb while Zekk – barefooted - crept around in the darkness. He didn't want to turn on a light, for fear of waking the sleeping person on the couch. As quietly as he could, Zekk made his way to his room. Sadly, fate wasn't on his side and Zekk ran into the wall, successfully managing to stub his toe. He cursed loudly, forgetting that there was another person.

Instantly, the silence was broken by the snap-hiss of a lightsaber and a ghostly violet light pierced the darkness that surrounded him. He could vaguely make out Jaina's features as she peered around, and her gaze finally locking on him.

"Uhh… hi?" _Ooohhh, that was real smooth, Zekk. Why don't you just slap a large, flashing neon sign on your forehead that says, "I'm an idiot!"? _

She sighed and extinguished her blade. "Zekk, what are you sneaking around for?"

There was a shuffling noise and then a flash of brightness. Spots appeared in front of his eyes as they adjusted to the sudden change in light. Jaina was sitting on the couch staring at the ceiling with a vacant look. He sat down next to her. She didn't acknowledge his presence any further than a nod. Silence reigned for a few moments until Zekk finally said, "Jaina, we need to talk."

She stiffened. "About?"

"The mission, what happened? I know you don't want to talk about it but –"

"No, it's okay, Zekk. I knew I couldn't keep you in the dark forever." Jaina shifted a bit but was still looking at the ceiling. "We were supposed to be infiltrating this planet's government and overthrowing it… I think. Everything was going fine and normal. Mystiran did most of the destroying on the outside while we covered for him and made sure no one noticed. Al and Dai supported us by sending viruses and causing almost everything electronic to malfunction. We thought it was going –"

"Who's this 'we' you keep mentioning?" Zekk asked.

"Carey Adair, Clare Ahearn, 'Ran, and me," Jaina answered. "Carey, Clare, and I found out what was important to them and relayed the information to 'Ran who either blew it up or did something to scare them. Somehow, they caught us. We were walking in the hall when it happened. Eighteen men jumped us. There wasn't much shelter. Clare went down first. Carey and I managed to shoot our way out of there, we brought Clare with us. Along the way, 'Ran caught up to us. A couple guys found him too. So we were pretty much being chased by these guys. We decided to double back and go to the place Mystiran had been trying to blow up before he had gotten caught.

"'Ran thought he had disabled the bomb, but it turns out he didn't. A piece of shrapnel lodged itself in his shoulder and he was badly burned when it blew. Carey suffered the brunt because he went in first. He got badly burnt and a rock knocked into his head. 'Ran carried Carey while I got to drag Clare. We stole a speeder and managed to escape the pursuit. Right as we got back to the ship, Carey died; he bled to death from a deep cut we hadn't noticed until we arrived at the base. And that's about it."

"That's it? Really? You didn't get hurt? At all?" Zekk was baffled. Something didn't seem exactly right with her explanation.

"I burned my right arm and got shot in the shoulder. It was nothing a bacta patch and healing trace couldn't handle."

"That's not what I meant. You seemed rather… I don't know, guilty feeling when your shields slipped."

"Wouldn't you feel guilty if you lost two of your pilots who you've trained and been with since the war? I was the one who caused their death because I asked them to come along."

"No you didn't. Unless you pulled the trigger or set off the bomb, you didn't do anything."

"Yes, I did. Carey was one my closest friends in the squadron, I heard him tell his wife that he would be coming back safely. Now, tell me, do you think I did anything?"

"No," Zekk stated firmly. He reached over and pulled her into a hug.

TBC-

Wait a minute… didn't I just post? Oh well, you guys are getting a double post… sort of. Hope you'll enjoy it! The kiss scene was done at the urging of my good friend, AgentJaid or Jaid Ziaen.


	9. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Chapter Nine: Reunion

Somehow, things had fallen back into routine at the apartment over the next few days. Mystiran was out of the bacta tank and under orders to take it easy for the next few weeks. Jaina and the rest of her squadron were on leave – Jaina getting longer than her squadron because she was about to participate in Tenel Ka's wedding. Things had been going smoothly and continued to do so - until they started to get bored and incredibly lazy. This was shown when Jaina noticed a message blinking on the door.

"Kionne, get the door message."

"No Master you get the door message."

"Zekk, get the door message."

"I'm eating."

"Marin?"

"I am Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the Fourth!" Marin laughed insanely.

"Okay… umm, I'll go get the door." Jaina got up and went to the door. She pressed the button when she was about halfway across the room. The image of a very familiar, grizzly old man appeared on the floor.

"Uhh…this thing on?" He coughed. "Well, I'm in town for a bit and I heard that Zekk was staying with you, Jaina. It's about time you two got together." Jaina blushed and thought, _Why does everyone think we're together just because we live in the same apartment?_ "I was wanting to have a chat with the boy. I'll be staying at Pilot's Lounge motel. Just send him along if he wants to talk. Bye."

"Was that who I think it was?" Zekk had approached Jaina from behind when he saw the person in the message.

"Yep, should we not get dinner for you?" Jaina asked.

"Sure, don't wait up."

"Like I would."

"Love you too, Jaina. See ya guys tomorrow." Zekk grabbed a jacket before heading out the door.

XaXaXaXa-

_(The streets of Mon Cal)_

It only took Zekk a few minutes to find his way around. After all, his skills to navigate the unknown hadn't slackened in the least. It was currently raining banthas and Ewoks, but Zekk still stuck to walking. A little rain wouldn't hurt him. His thoughts drifted to the man he was going to meet. He hadn't seen him in a year or two. As a matter of fact, Zekk rarely had been able to find a chance to keep in touch with old friends. Probably because he kept himself so busy all of the time.

There weren't too many people on the walkways. The only ones out there were under umbrellas or crowded under various awnings in front of stores. He ambled along whistling to himself while looking out for the docking bays. Ah hah, there they were!

It wasn't that hard to find The Pilot's Lounge Motel. Its name said everything, so all Zekk had to do was find the docking bays and he found the motel. He walked up to the building and entered. The entranceway had a repulsor coat rack and there was another door leading into what must be a bar area, judging by the amount of noise being muffled. The door was extremely old fashioned, one of those wooden ones that you had to manually open.

Zekk's jacket was soaked through and his hair was plastered to his neck. Grumbling obscenities at the rain – nevermind that is was his fault that he was wet – Zekk took off his jacket and gave it a good shake before hanging it on the coat rack. He retied his hair before entering the room. It was loud and smoky, crowded with beings of different races. It also didn't smell too good seeing as there were a bunch of different species crammed into a small, smoky common room.

Somehow he managed to fight his way through the crowd and found his way to the reception desk. There was a loopy-looking Twi'lek male behind it. He gave Zekk a toothy grin, showing off very pointed teeth, as he approached.

"What can I do for you?" the Twi'lek asked. Only, since he was drunk, it came out more like: "Wha ca do fa ya?"

Zekk blinked. "Have you seen an old man in his late sixties, with kinda long, grizzly hair?"

"Does he pilot a ship called the _Thunderbolt_ and goes by the name of Peckhum?" the Twi'lek asked. His words were still a drunken slur but that's what it translated to… at least that's what Zekk thought it translated to.

"Yeah!"

"Nope, can't say that I have."

"What? But you just said –"

"Bob! Didn't I tell ya not to get behind the sithin' counter while I was using the 'fresher?" A burly man came in view with rolled up flimsies in one hand. He was shaking it at the Twi'lek threateningly. "Bad boy! Go to yer bar stool right now!" The man whacked the Twi'lek on the head with the flimsies. He turned to Zekk. "Sorry 'bout that, he don't mean no harm. So, what can I do fer ya, sonny?"

"Could you tell me if a man by the name of Peckhum is here?"

"'Course I can, it's my job. Now, jus' give me a couple o' minutes and I'll have him located fer ya." The big man called over a Wookiee that had been sitting at the bar. He said something to him and then the Wookiee took off. A few seconds later the Wookiee came back and then left. Hidden by the Wookiee's height was…

"Peckhum!" Zekk shouted as he ran forward. Peckhum gave a shout in return and caught Zekk in a bear hug.

"Well, look at you boy! How long has it been since I've seen you?"

"I think the last time we saw each other was on Corellia, about ten standard months ago, when I went to go pick up something for Master Skywalker." Zekk blinked. He hadn't thought it was that long since he had seen the man who was a father to him.

"Wow, that long, eh? Who'd a thought that in only ten months you'd actually get that girl and manage to keep her? So when's the wedding and am I invited?" An instant flush appeared on Zekk's cheeks.

Peckhum was steering Zekk to a booth near the back of the room before he could correct him. The table had a half-finished, glowing blue drink on it, obviously where Peckhum had been sitting before. The old man sat down and waved Zekk to the seat across from him. He took a sip from his drink and glanced up when Zekk cleared his throat.

"Well, ah, you see, the funny thing about that is… Jaina and I aren't together." Zekk was sprayed by a mouthful of glowing blue liquid.

"What do you mean you two aren't together! If you aren't then why the Sith are you guys living together!"

"Well, it all started when Marin got us stranded on Commenor and then Jaina and her apprentice were sent to retrieve us. Jay and Kionne found out that we didn't have a place to say so they forced us to say with them."

"Interesting." Peckhum stroked his beard. "So, I'm guessin' that things have been going good for you."

"For the most part, yes, but I'm now part of Jacen's wedding."

"That's right. It was on the news last night and they sent me an invitation."

The two chatted like this for most of the night. Zekk didn't arrive home until 200 in the morning. When he did, Zekk collapsed into bed without a second thought.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Four days later)_

The next few days were anything but relaxing. They had to scramble to get ready for the trip to Hapes. They had waited to the last minute to do everything. Jaina was finishing off the last minute arrangements for her squadron. Zekk had to get some reports done for the Chief of State, but other than that he only had to pack. Kionne and Marin had to only wait for their masters.

Finally, about two hours before they had to leave, they were ready. Currently, everyone (Tenel Ka, Jacen, Zekk, Jaina, Lowie, Kionne, Marin, Tahiri, Mystiran, and Alaric) was waiting for the transport from Hapes to come. This would take a while, seeing as they were two hours early.

Jaina had started a game of sabacc with Al and Jacen while Kionne watched. Zekk and Lowie were having a heated discussion over who would win the smashball tournament and Mystiran was busy complaining about Tahiri's constant fretting. Tenel Ka was the only one who did not show her impatience and started to meditate. Time crept by and soon they had ran out of things to do.

Jaina, who was the victor in the sabacc game, suddenly sat up. "Tenel Ka, what ever happened to the _Rock Dragon_?"

"The _Rock Dragon_ is in a spare hangar I believe. It has not been flown in a few years," Tenel Ka responded.

Jaina grinned. "Really? Then I guess it'll be needing a tune up, eh?" Jaina's grin was expanding by the second. "What do you think, Lowie?"

The Wookiee growled his agreement. He started to vocalize something else but was cut off by the arrival of the ships. All of them seemed confused except for Jacen and Tenel Ka.

Jaina was the first one to voice her opinion. "Jace, why is the transport here early? I thought they weren't going to be here for another thirty minutes."

"We're not going to leave for another thirty minutes," Jacen corrected. "The transport is here so we can load all of our stuff on and settle in."

"Wow, Hapan tech!" Alaric exclaimed. He was nearly sprinting towards the ship. "I always wanted to get a look at it!"

Mystiran looked up from where he was sitting. "Uh oh, I think Al's going to disassemble the ship if we don't hurry."

"He wouldn't do that… would he?" Kionne asked. A loud crash from inside the ship answered her question. They looked at each other before they all rushed on board.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Hapan system)_

Jaina groaned when she saw the large fanfare that had been prepared for Tenel Ka's return outside of the hangar, along the street to Fountain Palace. She had a headache, courtesy of the drinks she had tried the night before. Zekk shot a grin her way. "Didn't I tell you not to drink so much?"

"Shut it, you. It was in celebration," Jaina said.

"Do you even remember why you were celebrating?" Zekk's smug grin was becoming very irritating to her. She tried to think back but her memory was rather fuzzy at the moment. "By the way, Jay, I don't think Al's recovered from the threats you gave him last night for his totally normal comment about your X- wing."

Jaina glanced at Alaric, who was hugging the transport screaming, "No, don't let the Goddess take away my computers! No, they're mine! Don't take away my technology!"

Jaina's eyebrow was raised and she wondered whatthe Sith she had done, but whatever it was, Jacen had done it with her, judging by the unhappy looks a newly dyed neon green Mystiran was shooting at them. Kionne was giggling and Marin was trying not to laugh as she walked past Mystiran and Alaric.

"Friend Jaina?"

"Yeah, Tenel Ka?"

"I believe that you wished to see the _Rock Dragon_, correct?" Tenel Ka asked. Jaina's lopsided grin was her answer. "Very well then, it is currently housed in the west hangar on the other side of the palace. After we get settled, would you like me to have someone guide you there?"

"Would I ever!" Jaina exclaimed. She would have said more but thena litter arrived to carry Tenel Ka to the palace. Her warrior friend frowned at the litter before accepting it. Jacen and the others had to walk beside it. People had gathered along the side of the street and filling the side walks in front of domed buildings, cheering for the return of their Queen Mother.

_This is a lot for just one person_, Jaina thought.

"You're telling me," Zekk muttered, shooting her a grin.

Jaina discreetly stepped on his foot. "Stay outta my mind."

"I will if you stop thinking so loudly."

She tried to step on his foot again but Zekk walked a bit faster to evade. He gave a small laugh and then, with some effort, managed to straighten his face. She stuck her tongue out at him after making sure no one was looking. After all, not many people could see her considering there was a Wookiee in front of her and she was surrounded by people all taller than her. How she hated being short.

Zekk must have caught on to her thought, because he mentally sent a message.

/_Having height issues, oh vertically challenged one//_

_/Shut up! It's not my fault I got the short genes. My mom dwarfed me// _

_/That's true, you aren't much taller than Master Skywalker are you//_

_/Stop rubbing it in. /_

_/Awww, do I have to? It's fun//_

_/Zekk, can you please stop flirting with my sister? I think I'm going to be sick if you continue./_

Jaina glanced over at her brother who was making faces at her. Jaina stuck her tongue out at him. Zekk nudged her and she straightened and then asked, "What?"

"You know, people are watching Jacen to make sure he's worthy for their Queen Mother, right?" Zekk said.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I don't think they're getting a very good image if you two are busy making faces at each other."

"Oh."

They stopped talking and the rest of the journey was in silence. As they approached the palace, Jaina heard several members of their party gasp at its magnificence. She couldn't help but grin. Aside from wearing a dress, this trip was going to be very interesting.

TBC-

Here's Chapter Nine, and I hoped you guys liked it!

**Reviews: **

**GundamWingFanatic90:** Hello there. And yes I plan to get started on chapter 9 of GT2tF soon. I'm just not sure when soon is. I think I explained everything to you over the phone didn't I? If I didn't, feel free to bug me.

**Aramor, Lady of Mirkwood:** I'm glad you liked it. Thank you! I hope you found this one just as entertaining!

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** Thanks, and don't worry about forgetting to review, happens to us all. Well, at least it happens to me as well.

**California Mountain Girl:_…gasps... _**I've read some of your stuff before and thought it was awesome! I never thought you'd be reviewing me! I'm glad you're back! Thank you! My J/Z stuff isn't that great. If you want really good, check out Trickster-jz, her name says it all. But I'll have to warn you, some of her stuff is sad.

**Jaya:** Thank you! It's great to find all these J/Z fans out there! I didn't think there were this many of us!


	10. Rock Dragon

Here's the next chapter for uhh… what's this again, oh yeah, now I remember. Ahem, here's the next chapter Working On It.

Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to George Lucas. Yay for him.

Chapter Ten: _Rock Dragon_

"Zekk! Zekk, get your carcass outta bed right now!" Jaina shouted as she pounded on his door. "C'mon, we got a lot of work to do!" She heard cursing and a loud banging noise and wondered what was going on in there. Luckily, the door whisked open before she could wonder further on the subject.

A disgruntled looking Zekk stood before her with tousled hair clad only in a pair of boxers. He was frowning down at her – which Jaina didn't notice since she was distracted by. . . other things. All she had to say on the matter was that Zekk must have been working out. She swung her gaze up to his when he cleared his throat. Zekk gave her an expectant look while Jaina just looked slightly confused. He rolled his eyes then asked, "Jaina, what did you want?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, c'mon! We've got things to do!" Jaina grabbed his arm and started to drag him away.

Zekk stopped her. "Where am I going? Shouldn't I get dressed first?"

"Oh, right, that might be a good idea."

He rolled his eyes again before turning around and stepping back into his room. He told Jaina to wait for him in the hall before walking back into his room and closing the door. Jaina waited as he showered and got dressed. Roughly ten minutes later Zekk came out – his hair still slightly damp – and more clothed than before.

"Okay, now you're going to tell me why you woke me up at 0700 in the morning and why it couldn't wait until a decent hour," Zekk stated.

"Come with me," Jaina ordered. She spun on her heel and started walking down a hall that led northwest – at least what Zekk assumed was northwest. Zekk didn't have anything better to do so he followed her down the hallway. He mentally grumbled to himself about women who have control issues and followed after her. They ambled along a bit farther until they came to another door. How Jaina knew where everyone was Zekk would never know. Lowie was apparently waiting for them because the door opened before they could reach it.

Lowie growled a greeting and started to walk with them. Zekk felt slightly out of the loop that Lowie knew what was going on when he didn't have the slightest clue. He scowled for a moment. His bed was nice, too.

"Zekk? Zekk, were you listening?" Jaina asked. She stared at him expectantly.

"Eh?"

"I asked if you were looking forward to seeing her, too," Jaina repeated.

"See who?"

"Didn't you pay attention to last night's dinner conversation? You agreed to what we were saying."

"I did?" Last night was kind of hazy. Between the heavy food and wine, Zekk was having a hard time remembering anything except for when his head had hit the pillow.

"Yeah, we're going to visit the _Rock Dragon_ this morning," Jaina explained.

"And this couldn't wait until a more decent hour?" Zekk was back to being grumpy about waking up. This was his vacation. He was supposed to be sleeping in, not getting up at seven to work on some ship.

"No, Lowie and I wanted to get an early start."

Lowie growled his agreement and started up a conversation about what condition they thought the _Rock Dragon_ would be.

As the sleepy morning grumpiness disappeared, Zekk's mind switched gears to the topic of where and when they were going to eat. Knowing Jaina and Lowie, there would either be food there or they wouldn't realize their hunger until they registered the hunger pains. Wait, Lowie was a Wookiee so his hunger would catch up to him sooner or later, forcing them to eat. After all, Jaina didn't really register anything outside of machinery once she got into her working mood – at least, she neverused to.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Cabinet room, with a meeting going on at the same time)_

Tenel Ka was stuck in a meeting with her advisors. Then again, she was always stuck in a meeting with them. You'd think that they would be discussing about some famine or the state of the Hapes Consortium's exports and imports or other political stuff, now wouldn't you? Well then reader, you're wrong. The entire cabinet was debating what color the carpet should be when she walked down the aisle. The urge to rub her temples against the oncoming headache was becoming irresistible.

Realizing that she was threatened - more than normal - of losing control with her advisors, Tenel Ka quickly exercised the Jedi calming technique several times over. When they finally decided on a navy blue, Tenel Ka asked, "Governor Niana, what is the status of Anderra?"

Everyone jumped and scrambled to get back to back to work, even though there was no threat in Tenel Ka's voice. Governor Niana shuffled around her papers before saying, "The status is stable; the worst of the storms are over and raining season should end soon."

"Good, what's the latest news of our troops in the Transitory Mists Region? We trust that there hasn't been too much trouble from the pirates. In the last report, it seemed that they were starting to back down." One by one, Tenel Ka got everyone back on track and finally finished the meeting. The clothes she was wearing were becoming increasingly uncomfortable – the gown being far more restricting than Tenel Ka liked.

As she rose and left the room at a brisk pace, her handmaidens and body guards trailed behind her. Gesturing the nearest handmaiden over to her, Tenel Ka asked, "What is our schedule for the rest of the morning?"

"Your Majesty has an audience with some senators in thirty minutes; afterwards there is an appointment with the royal tailors at 1000. Then Your Majesty has to take care of some menu details for the wedding at 1100, then at 1115 you're needed to review the music selected for the dancing. Also, you have to decide on the plating for the reception and four days of banquets afterwards. At 1200, you need to eat lunch with Your Majesty's fiancé," she said.

"Thank you," was Tenel Ka's curt reply. She waved them away as she entered her chambers and changed her clothes for the rest of the day's engagements.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Hangar)_

"Look at this, the people didn't even remember to keep the air filters at peak condition. They're at 88!" Jaina exclaimed to Lowie and Zekk.

Zekk and Lowie shared an exasperated look and rolled their eyes. Lowie added to Jaina's observation that the techs would have probably been busy with other things like recovering from the war.

"Oh, right, I knew that."

Again, Lowie and Zekk exchanged looks and rolled their eyes. Jaina continued her inspection of the ship's interior, muttering things to herself as she went along. Lowie pointed out that they would probably have to go through all the systems and check them manually.

Jaina looked like her Lifeday had come early. "You're right, Lowie, and while we're at it, we should see which parts need to be updated or replaced. It'll also be a good chance to upgrade it."

Zekk hadn't seen Jaina this excited in a long time. In fact, he was afraid that she might trample everyone in her over zealousness.

"Goddess! You in here?"

The call was coming outside and the three Jedi looked out the hatch. In the hangar stood Mystiran and Tahiri trying to hold back an over-eager Alaric from running up to the ship.

"Umm…hi? Did you guys want something?" Jaina asked as she walked down the ramp.

"Al wanted to see the ship and we sensed you inside and we figured that you'd let him take a look," Mystiran explained.

Jaina frowned and Zekk felt Jaina starting to get into one of her 'it's mine!' moods. Her brow knitted and Jaina, after moments of thought, stated very reluctantly, "As long as he doesn't touch anything and stays in the corner with a straightjacket on him, he can come in."

Tahiri and Mystiran let Alaric go and the man rushed up the ramp, ignoring Jaina, Lowie, and Zekk as he went. The other two people followed up the ramp at a much slower pace.

"I haven't seen thisthing in years!" Tahiri exclaimed. "I remember you guys spending days just working on this ship." She gave a grin. "Jacen and Tenel Ka would be bonding while they patched and checked the hull, Lowie and Em Teedee would be arguing, you and Zekk would be flirting –"

"We didn't flirt!" Jaina and Zekk exclaimedin unison. There was a red tinge on both of their faces. Tahiri giggled while Lowie started to chuckle before adding in his own comments.

Mystiran shrugged. "I don't remember seeing you two flirt that much, but that's probably because Al and I were too busy being in detention or I was keeping Al from hacking into files that are none of his business."

"Detention?" Tahiri asked, looking over at her husband.

"Yeah, well Al and I got into a lot of trouble when we were younger." Mystiran was starting to look uncomfortable. "You know the week where dancing holographs of neon-colored Ewoks ran around the temple?" Everyone nodded. "That was us. Landed detention for a month because we gave the teachers migraines from looking at them."

"You gave me a migraine, too. Do you know –" Zekk started.

"That's not important, what's important is Al's messing with the ship!" Jaina exclaimed as she chased after the man.

"Feeling the love," Zekk said as he headed in the direction of the galley. His stomach was growling in earnest now and he couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Ooohh, look a slicer module! Those are illegal! How cool! Can I try it out? Pretty please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please? I'll be your best friend?" Alaric begged.

From the _Rock Dragon's_ kitchen Zekk shouted, "Position's filled!"

"I'll be your slave for a month?" Alaric pleaded, adding Ewok eyes(1) for good measure.

Jaina grinned, "Make it two months and then you have yourself a deal!"

Alaric whooped and started doing a victory dance. He stopped at Jaina's voice. "But, you have to clear it with Tenel Ka first."

"Sithspit, you're kidding me! I can't just go up to the Queen Mother and ask, "Can I borrow your ship to slice into someone's computer and steal all of their files?'! Besides, she's scary! Especially since she could make me bend 26 unnatural ways with her bare hand if I broke it," Alaric accented these statements by flapping his arms and turning a bright shade of red. He looked like some demented bird that hadlost all of its feathers.

Jaina started to laugh at him. Alaric gave an indignant huff and sat down on the small lounge seat. Tahiri giggled a bit before asking, "What makes you think Tenel Ka would do that to you, Al? After all, she hasn't done anything to warrant such fear."

Alaric didn't answer; instead he stared at the table. Mystiran chuckled and said, "Al's always been afraid of her, ever since we first went to the Praxeum. I think it's because when we first met Tenel Ka she was practicing with her daggers and it scared the Sith outta Al."

"Is that all? Geez, Al, you're a wuss," Jaina said.

Alaric stuck his tongue out at her. "It's not my fault; she's scary!"

"How about you ask her at dinner when everyone else is around?" Tahiri suggested.

"Good idea, Tahiri! Thanks! You're a lot smarter than my brother! By the way, why did you marry him? I think you could do so much better," Alaric said.

Mystiran stared at him, "Traitor! Don't tell her that! It's supposed to be a secret!"

Tahiri giggled and shook her head. "Well come on, 'Ran, you need to take your medicine."

"But I don't wanna take my meds," Mystiran whined as he, Tahiri, and Alaric walked out of the ship.

Jaina shook her head and then called to Lowie and Zekk, "All rightboys, time to get to work!"

TBC-

Guess what guys? This is my b-day present from me to you.

**GundamFan: **Thanks and I'm just going to call you that okay? It's easier for my brain to remember.

**Aramor Lady of Mirkwood:** Thank you, I'm glad that it entertained you! It did what it was supposed to do.

**Shira Brie:** Thanks! Glad you liked it. Please don't hold it over Ace Ryn Knight's head too long! She might stop reading!

**Jill2282:** Thank you!

**California Mountain Girl:** Thank you! You don't know how cool it is to know that you're reading my story! Food fights are fun, I think I've two in this story… I can't really remember. You think I got Zekk and Jaina's character right? Wow… I'm going into stunned silence mode right after I finish these IR's. I don't think your Jaina's weak! She's more open with Zekk than she was in NJO. That's a good thing!

**Elorinna Evenstarre:** Thanks! Heh, there's a healthy dose of hyperness in all of my stories. It's probably because I'm on hyperactive far too often in real life. Woot! Another J-Zer! We're gaining in numbers! I totally agree with the Palpatine thing! Right on!


	11. Planning

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for OCs but that one's obvious.

I'm thinking that is might be the last chance I get to post before I go on a trip to the Smoky Mountains. Not to offend anyone who lives there but I don't like going on trips unless I'm interested. We went to the Rockies last summer and I nearly died of boredom and there was no internet so, I 'm not too enthused about this trip. Anyways, here's your chapter:

Chapter Eleven: Planning

Jaina grumbled a bit. Modeling dresses stunk, really, really, stinky feet, rotten eggs, stunk. She had been in a great mood earlier in the day. She was repeating the schedule that she had made up for herself: wake up, shower, wear something that doesn't smell, wake up Zekk, go get Lowie, work on the _Rock Dragon_ until Zekk or Lowie complains about being hungry too much, eat breakfast, work on the _Rock Dragon_, forget lunch, train with Kionne, annoy Jacen, annoy Zekk, make sure Al doesn't reverse work on _Rock Dragon_, laze around, eat dinner with everyone, and sleep.

Unfortunately, bridesmaid dresses can't be made without the bridesmaids. If only Jaina had remembered that, then she wouldn't be in this very annoyed state. Okay, scratch that, she would be annoyed either way, but at least there would've been a heads up. But for now, she was stuck in a warm, unbelievably stuffy room – causing her to become drowsy, only to be snapped out of it whenever the tailor stuck her with a pin – trying on very uncomfortable dresses.

_I hope Jacen is as miserable as I am right now_, Jaina thought.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Other tailor's place, with Jacen)_

"Ow! Watch where you're poking that thing!"

"If you stopped squirming then the pin wouldn't poke you, sir." The royal tailor and Jacen had been arguing for the last 15 standard minutes. Everyone else had a suit ready. Even Zekk and Alaric were ready. Sadly, Jacen was being very picky about his suit and everyone else's. First it was dark green, then navy, and they finally convinced him to settle on the normal black.

After the first five minutes of listening to Jacen whine about the pants making his underwear ride up, everyone in the room wanted to strangle him. Who knew Jacen could whine like a four-year-old girl? So much for getting mature after the Yuuzhan Vong captured him.

"Jacen, just stand still for the nice man and let him do his job. Okay?" Zekk asked.

"But –"

"No 'buts', if you're a good little boy I'll buy you an ice cream cone," Zekk said.

"Hardy, har, har, very funny, Zekk; you're a kriffin' riot," Jacen said.

"Thank you, I like to think so."

Zekk turned around and found that Alaric and Mystiran were staring at him with identical dumbfounded expressions. After giving them curious looks that ordered them to explain, Mystiran said, "You... kinda sounded like our dad. . ."

"He always bribes us with ice cream when he wants us to do something," Alaric added.

"Does he still do that?" Jacen asked.

"Yeah," both answered.

"Even though you're two fully grown men and can buy the ice cream yourselves?" Zekk added.

They nodded. If this was one of those crazy anime shows that Marin obsessed over, then there would be multiple sweat drops on Zekk, Jacen, and the tailor's heads.

"Ow! Can't you be a little more careful with that thing?"

XaXaXaXa-

_(Marin, Jacen, and Kionne)_

"Master Solo, are you in here?" Kionne called out.

"Wow, it's really dark! I know! I can use my alchemy to make it lighter!" Marin exclaimed while clapping. A ball of light appeared in the air.

"Marin, that's cheating, you used the Force," Kionne said.

Marin grinned and said, "No, I used my alchemy. Now why did Master Solo want us to meet him in this wing? It's all dark and creepy."

"Great, Marin, thanks; now I'm a bit freaked out. Where is he? And what's the funny smell?" Kionne asked her voice barely above a whisper.

"You're welcome, and I don't know," Marin whispered back.

"Why are we whispering?" a new voice asked.

The girls shrieked and a light came on. The three people were standing in what appeared to be a small menagerie – the third person being Jedi Knight Jacen Solo. There were a couple of wooden chairs through out the room.

Jacen smiled at them and gestured to the chairs. He approached one of the cages that were lining the walls and took out a blue, feathery ball that had three eyestalks, a narrow long beak, a long feather looking thing for a tail, and two bird-like feet.

"Good morning, Nicta. Did you have a nice rest?" he questioned the wingless avian. The thing blinked all three eyes in response. Jacen smiled and set the creature on his shoulder before turning to the two apprentices. "I bet you're wondering why I wanted you here."

"Yes, we are, Master Solo," Kionne answered.

"Please, just call me Jacen. Now to get down to business, I need your help."

"Our help?" Marin asked.

"Yes, you see, I'm going to be playing matchmaker with your masters and I need a bit of assistance from you two."

"You're saying that you want us to help get our masters together?" Marin asked.

Jacen nodded.

"You're crazy," Kionne announced.

"Hey – oh, wait never mind," Jacen said. He cleared his throat. "I think we should get down to business."

"Okay, what do you want us to do?" Marin asked.

Jacen grinned evilly. "I want you two to do this–"

XaXaXaXa-

_(Hangar)_

"Lowie, can you hand me the hydrospanner?" Jaina asked, her hand waving out from under the food prep unit.

A tool slid into her hand, and a voice said, "Lowie isn't here anymore, Jay, and aren't you supposed to be trying on bridesmaid dresses?"

"Nope, we're done for now. You?"

"We've got everything settled for our end of the clothing part. No thanks to your brother."

"Jace showed his dislike for tailors, didn't he?"

"No Sith! I thought we would be stuck in that room forever!"

Jaina nudged him with her foot that was hanging out. "Don't exaggerate."

"Why not? You do it all the time."

"I'm going to hurt you for that later."

He rolled his eyes. "Haven't you beaten on me enough, these past few months?"

"Nope."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Isn't it?"

"You need to get outta there and eat something with me." He tugged on her boot to accent his statement.

"Just give me five more minutes and I'll be done," she protested.

"Five minutes when you're playing with machinery is like five hours."

She nudged him again before sighing in defeat and crawling out. "You know, Zekk, it's very rude to interrupt someone when they're working.

Zekk smirked down at her. "I never did have good manners."

"Maybe Tenel Ka can arrange for you to have some lessons?" Jaina suggested.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Zekk said with a grimace.

Jaina stifled a laugh and asked, "Where do you wanna eat? We can sneak into the kitchen and grab something or –"

"Way ahead of you, I have some sandwiches." He gestured to the table where a nicely sized plate of sandwiches sat. Then Zekk grabbed her hand and proceeded to drag her over to the table. They both ate quickly – Jaina, to get back to work, and Zekk, to keep up with Jaina.

When all the sandwiches had disappeared Jaina stood up and started to walk back over to the food prep. Before she could walk more than two thirds away, Zekk grabbed her arm and started to pull her in a different direction.

"Zekk, what are you doing?" Jaina exclaimed.

"Me, nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? You're dragging me in the opposite direction of where I want to go!"

"If you already knew what I was doing, then why did you ask?"

"Don't be smart with me, Zekk!"

"Me? Be smart with you? Why, whatever do you mean?"

Jaina let out a frustrated noise and stamped her foot, giving all appearances of a two-year-old having a temper tantrum. Zekk stopped and waited until Jaina's anger level left the red zone. Once she had calmed down to a somewhat lower level, he started to drag her once again. "Where are we going?"

"To my room; you're going to spar with me."

"In your room?"

"No, I need to get my lightsaber; we're going to spar in the gym. You know, that place people go to get ripped and stuff."

"I know what a gym is." After a moment's pause, she asked, "Aren't you supposed to keep your lightsaber with you at all times?"

Now that she had calmed down – or at least gave all appearances of being calm – Zekk moved his hand from her arm down to her own hand. "Err… I kinda forgot it this morning. I slept late when you didn't wake me up and had to rush out before Jacen would skewer me alive for being late."

"Weren't you always lecturing us back at the Academy if we so much as went to math class without our lightsaber?" Jaina lowered the pitch of her voice, in an attempt to mimic his own. " 'You can't leave your room without your lightsaber. You never know when someone will attempt to kill you. That weapon should be your life because it's going to be the only thing between you and the barrel of a blaster.' "

A slight tinge appeared on his face. "Haha, very funny; I was a little paranoid back then."

"Oh a little? I think you nearly beat Corran or Kam in that area."

Zekk gave a relieved grin. "Oh look, here's my room! Guess you'll have to continue mocking me some other time!"

An unexpected sight greeted them when they arrived to find the door jammed open. The room was totally trashed. Chairs, cushions, pillows, and the bed were slashed and spewing out fluffy junk; the blankets were ripped and torn into tiny pieces and the walls had large scratch marks. The rather large culprit sat in the middle of the bed, licking its paws in feline content.

"Jay, call Jacen and tell him to get his butt up here; _now_!" Zekk said his voice unusually calm.

She did as she was told. A few minutes later, Jacen came running into the room. "Muffin!" Jacen yelled.

The feline leapt off the bed and went galloping over to Jacen. It nearly bowled him over as it tackled and pinned the man to the ground. It licked his face a couple of times until Jacen, who was laughing, said, "Muffin, get off of me. I need to see the mess you made."

"I don't think you'll have any trouble of seeing this, Jacen. In fact, what was that… whatever it is, doing in my room?" Zekk asked.

"She escaped from her cage earlier this morning. I've been trailing her wreckage all morning; and now I've found her!" Jacen started to make a series of cooing noises at the animal.

Zekk patiently waited through two minutes of the baby talk and asked, "Where am I going to stay, Jacen?"

The animal-loving Jedi looked up. "That's a good question. All the other guest rooms are being claimed for and being renovated to accommodate the guests for my wedding."

"That's doesn't answer my question."

"It's simple really, you obviously can't stay in your room anymore so you can just stay with Jaina," Jacen said this as if it was one of the most obvious things.

"What?" both Jaina and Zekk exclaimed.

"It's the most logical thing. You and Jaina have been living in the same apartment for the past few months so it shouldn't be any trouble." Jacen stood up and said in a commanding tone that was rarely heard from him, "Now, I want no more arguments. Zekk, get your stuff that hasn't been destroyed and head to Jaina's room. Jaina, I want you to head to your room and pick up anything that you might not want Zekk to see." He paused for a moment before asking, "Well, what are you two waiting for? A red carpet? Get moving!"

They went off to do as they were told immediately, becoming docile and willing from shock.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Hallway, with Jacen, the kitty thing and a comlink)_

"This is Animal boy calling Pink Girl and Cat Demon/Wolf Demon/Alchemist/Jedi," Jacen whispered, casting wary glances around the halls.

"This is Pink Girl; what's the situation, Animal Boy?"

"Going Solo and Goddess are once again sharing quarters. Operation Trash Room is a success. Begin Operation Awkward Moments. Make sure you are not caught!"

"Yes, sir! Consider it done!"

A grin made its way across Jacen's face. Even if it didn't work out, this was going to be fun. After all, the deadline he gave himself to get them together was the final day of feast, right before he went on his honeymoon. That shouldn't be too hard. His wedding was three months away. Speaking of which, he and Tenel Ka were supposed to go over the menus for the reception and feast in five minutes? Jacen broke into a sprint, hoping that he wouldn't be late enough to deserve the wrath of his fiancée.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Conference room, with Jacen, Tenel Ka, and a load of those "advisors")_

"Your Majesty, I suggest that you go with the menu that has vegetarian substitutes for the first banquet? The ambassadors from Olanji can only be here for the reception and first banquet," Counselor Tamila said.

"Then we shall use that one," Tenel Ka confirmed. She turned to her fiancé, who was discussing the seating chart with another aide. "We hope that everything is going well with the seating chart."

"Of course, it is TenelKa, Counselor T'chita and I were just having a disagreement upon where we should place my family. Apparently, my extended family doesn't really count as my family," Jacen said.

"Extended family? What extended family members are you talking about?" Tenel Ka questioned.

"Why all my hold fathers and hold mothers!" stating this, Jacen started to list off every single one.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina and now Zekk's room, right before bedtime)_

"So… what are we going to do about the sleeping arrangements?" Jaina asked. They stood across from each other, looking at anything except each other.

"I could sleep on the floor?" Zekk suggested, knowing very well that Jaina would not allow it.

I'm sure you're all wondering why Zekk didn't just sleep on the couch. Well, unfortunately for them, there was not a sofa or any of its various forms in sight. There were only two chairs that were centered in front of a glass table with intricately carved wood legs and the holoscreen. Off to the side was a private comm station. The only other features of the room were a door to the bathroom, a small walk-in closet, the very plush queen-sized bed and the double doors with delicate carvings that served as the exit.

"No, absolutely not! You can sleep in the bed, I'll take the floor," Jaina stated firmly.

Zekk shook his head. "No, Jaina, I can't kick you out of your bed." There was a lapse of silence until Zekk finally said, "I know, we can take turns sleeping in the bed and on the floor."

"No way! Technically speaking, you're my guest and I wouldn't be a very courteous host if I had you sleeping on the floor at all."

_I hate when she gets obstinate. Nothing's going to convince her otherwise so I might as well..._, Zekk thought. "Well, there is another way." He hesitated. This was going to be _very_ awkward. A red flush contrasted sharply with his pale skin. "We could… sleepinthebedtogether." The last part came out in a rush.

"What? Could you repeat that?"

"I said 'We could sleep in the bed together'." He cringed. A slight tinge appeared on Jaina's cheeks as well.

"Ahh… I guess that would be okay. Yeah, yeah! That would be fine!" She seemed to be trying to convince herself that nothing ill or odd would come of this arrangement.

Without looking at each other, the two climbed into bed and murmured good night before turning out the light and falling into dreamland.

TBC-

**Important Author Note:** Okay, here's the deal: this Saturday (the one coming this week for those who are as bad with days as me) I am leaving at an ungodly hour to take a family trip to the Smoky Mountains. I will be gone for a week and am pretty sure I will have no access to a computer. I feel that you guys should know, seeing as you are the people who are reading this. Hopefully, I may have a rough draft of the next chapter ready to type by the time I get back.

**Reviews:**

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** The weird name part is a real life thing. I'll have to tell Marin that people are enjoying her a lot. Peckhum does rock! I think he's one of my favorite minor characters out of the whole Star Wars universe. My brother loves Al. He keeps asking me to write more with him. But then again, he's 11. I'm very relieved that you liked the part with TK. I'm stressing out that I don't have her in character enough. Thank you for reviewing!

**Californian Mountain Girl:** Woot! I'm getting complimented by one of my JZ idols! This is a very good moment for me. I love your stuff. It's just that I didn't review because I wasn't a member than and I'm a lazy bum. Thanks for stoppin' by!

**Shira Brie + Ace Ryn Knight:** Ace: Cool! It's awesome that a J/Jer actually likes my story!

Shira: Really? You like it? That's cool! The meds thing come from my reluctance to take the

horse pills I need in the morning.

**Aramor Lady of Mirkwood:** Wow, you guys are going to give me a big head with all the compliments. I hope you had fun on your camping trip!


	12. Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars; I'm just messing around for my own amusement.

Hi everyone; I'm back! Did you miss me? I'm not going to bore you and say anything about my trip. Instead, I'm going to entertain you with my evil-ness (I'm very aware that's not a word). I actually felt sorry for Jaina and Zekk in this one. Hope you guys like it!

Chapter Twelve: Dreams

"Wake up, sleepyhead," a voice said, interrupting his sleep. He groaned and pulled a pillow over his face. He heard a small laugh coming from the person trying to wake him up. "Fine, if you're going to be that way then I'll just have to call in the backup."

The person got off the bed and left the room. Zekk lifted the edge of the pillow a bit and peaked out. He was back on Mon Calamari, in Jaina's apartment to be precise. So that means the person was Jaina. Now that he thought about it, the voice was feminine and familiar. He didn't get to muse any further beyond that point, since two screaming, petite beings came running in the room.

Both of them hopped on the bed and bounced their way over. When they reached Zekk, the two both jumped on him. Zekk's breath came out in an 'oomph'. He turned over with a groan and stared at the small children now seated on him. One – a boy – bore a strong resemblance to himself with almost black hair and emerald eyes. The other child was a girl and she looked a bit more like Jaina, for she had the same shade of hair, except Zekk's own eyes were staring back at him.

"Daddy, get up!" the boy cried, bouncing up and down.

"Yeah, daddy, get up!" the girl echoed.

They said similar statements back and forth with the occasional bounce until Jaina walked back into the room. She looked the same, if you didn't count the baby she was now carrying. Jaina grinned at him when she noticed his stare.

"So is daddy going to stop being lazy and get up now?" Jaina asked.

"If these little monsters get off me first," Zekk heard himself say.

"Daddy, we aren't monsters!" the girl protested.

"Carey, Maeve, you heard your dad, off with you. Go finish your breakfast," Jaina said.

"Food!" the little boy yelled. He didn't waste any time in scrambling off Zekk and the bed - the young girl following close behind.

Zekk went into a sitting position as Jaina sat down on the edge near his feet. She helped the baby sit up a bit and look at him. The infant's eyes were still blue and there was only a bit of fuzz on top of its head, making it hard to distinguish the color. "Ailis, are you going to say good morning to your daddy?"

The baby gurgled and started to suck on her fist. Zekk's arms moved in a gesture that he wished to hold the child. Jaina handed her over and the baby looked up at Zekk with slight curiosity before kicking her feet and babbling. A tiny hand wrapped around his hair and gave it a tug. Zekk grunted and gently pried the fingers out of his hair.

"It's not very nice when she decides that your hair is the perfect toy, is it?" Jaina asked.

"No kidding," Zekk agreed dryly as he played a game of peek-a-boo with Ailis. The baby giggled and waved her tiny fists in delight.

"Okay, okay, give her back, Zekk, I need to finish feeding her," Jaina said. He nodded and handed the child over. Jaina shifted the child in her arms until the baby was comfortably cradled slightly on Jaina's hip. "Oh, and good morning." She leaned in and then…

He woke up. Zekk let out a frustrated noise. Blasted dream! It was getting good! Not that having three kids with Jaina wasn't wonderful but… Wait a minute! What was he babbling about? He wasn't supposed to be dreaming this! He was supposed to be denying any feelings for her! The dream was a nightmare, a horrible nightmare!

Zekk hit his head and groaned. This so-called "vacation" had to be the worst thing he'd ever agreed to. Before he rolled over to fall back asleep, Zekk glanced over at the sleeping Goddess. He held in another sigh as her rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.

XaXaXaXa-

"Hey, Jaya, can you help me with the groceries?" she heard her husband call.

Jaina had been looking over a datapad and slowly got up, still attempting to look at it even though she was moving away. Her husband, Zekk, was in the living room holding six bags – three for each hand – and when Jaina approached, he held out two. During the transferring of the bags, Zekk leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"Where are the kids?" he asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Carey is with Al, Maeve is with Marin, Ailis is with my dad learning how to shoot a blaster, and Raelin and Kieran have just settled down for their nap," Jaina recited.

"Gre- wait a minute, did you say that your dad is teaching Ailis how to use a blaster!" Zekk exclaimed.

Jaina grabbed the back of Zekk's shirt as he turned and prepared to march out the door. "Calm down, Zekk, dad knows what he's doing. He wouldn't let her get hurt."

"But- but she's too young! She's only seven!" Zekk said.

"Now, now, you have to let go sometime. Besides, it isn't like he's letting her go against a whole squad of stormtroopers."

Zekk glared at her and then his face turned to a look of worry. "He wouldn't, would he? Han's not that crazy, right? Right? Jaya, I need some reassurance here!"

Jaina laughed at her husband. "You need to calm down. Dad wouldn't do anything like that. He only uses the squad for target practice."

Zekk let out a relieved sigh. "I was worried for a moment, there. You can never be too careful."

"You worry too much. I'm surprised you didn't go gray when Carey started walking," Jaina commented as she helped him put away the food. Jaina was currently trying to put a jar of preserves up on a high cabinet shelf. Zekk walked over, took the jar, and placed it easily on the shelf. Seeing Jaina's pout, he laughed and kissed her cheek.

"I think you've gotten shorter since I left this morning," Zekk said. He ran out of the kitchen laughing when Jaina started to chase him. She managed to tackle him halfway to the couch.

Jaina straddled his middle and looked down triumphantly at him. "Hah, I caught you."

Zekk rested his head on his hands. "So you did; what do you want your reward to be?"

She whacked him. "Silence mortal, I never gave you permission to speak."

"When have I ever needed or asked permission to do anything?" Jaina attempted to whack him again but Zekk caught her hand and leaned up to…

She woke up.

What was that all about? What was going on? Since when were she and Zekk married?

Jaina sat up and groaned. That dream was too… good to be true almost. Hold on a sec, 'too good to be true'! Since when had she held _those_ feelings for him anyways? She glanced sideways at him and felt heat rush to her face. Hutt slime and Emperor's Black Bones, this was going to be one long and embarrassing wedding.

Her heart was pounding as she laid back down and tried to fall asleep not thinking about the dark-haired man slumbering beside her.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Morning time, with Jaina and Zekk)_

Sunlight streamed through the window and landed on the occupants of the only bed in the room. Jaina grumbled something and pulled the blanket over her head. After a few seconds of trying to fall back asleep, she sat up and looked around her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she went. Seconds later Jaina gave a surprised yelp and fell out of bed in her haste to get away.

Zekk shot up and looked around sleepily. "Is there a problem?" he asked with a sleepy slur.

"N- no, not at all!" Jaina exclaimed. Did she just stutter? Why was she going red? "I'm going to take a shower!" After she proclaimed that, Jaina half ran to the refresher unit.

The green-eyed Jedi stared at the 'fresher door for a moment before shrugging and muttering, "Must be some female thing."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Breakfast, in Tenel Ka's private dining room)_

"Jaina, are you okay?"

She looked up from her plate of eggs that she had been shuffling around and stared at the concerned face of her twin brother. A slightly forced smile appeared on her face. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"Tired? Why?"

_Why can't Jacen be uncurious for once?_ Jaina thought, as she replied, "Just a dream I had."

Her face started to heat up as she remembered. She hadn't enjoyed the dream, had she?

"What was it about?" By now everyone at the table was peering at her curiously. The flush on her cheeks darkened.

"Umm… nothing… nothing at all," Jaina said. She stood up. "You know, I just remembered. I left something on in the _Rock Dragon_ and I need to turn it off, now!" She left the room at a quick pace before anyone could stop her.

Jacen looked at the door his twin had retreated through. "What's wrong with her?" he questioned her dark-haired room mate. "What did you do?"

"Me? How come you immediately assume it was me?" Zekk said defensively.

"You share the same room," Jacen pointed out.

"Yes, well, what could I have to do with her dream?" Zekk asked.

Jacen blushed and thought for a moment. "I don't know, I guess I overreacted a bit. Sorry, I was being a tad overprotective."

"Speaking of dreams," Alaric said, cutting into the conversation, "I had a weird one last night."

"Really? I had one too. It was about pie," Mystiran said.

"So was mine!" Alaric exclaimed. "You stole my pie!"

"No, you stole my pie!" Mystiran countered.

"Nuh uh, it was mine!"

"No, my pie!"

"My pie!"

"My pie!"

"My–"

"It was no one's pie!" Tahiri yelled. "You both had one piece, happy?"

The twins became instantly mute and quailed under the petite blonde's gaze.

"Sorry for breaking the moment but I'm gonna head out. I want to see what's up with Jaina," Zekk said while standing up.

Jacen watched as Zekk walked across the room and out the door. He turned to the others with a grin. "Now that Jaina and Zekk are gone, I have something to tell you guys."

"Is it supposed to be kept secret?" Tahiri asked.

"Yes, I'd like it to avoid two certain pairs of ears."

"Then Al and 'Ran better leave," Tahiri said.

"Hey! We don't talk that much, Mrs. Parsec-A-Minute," Mystiran retorted.

"I may be talkative but I'm not a blabbermouth, unlike you two."

"But we can keep secrets! If they have important status in the government," Alaric said.

"And this doesn't, so leave," Tahiri ordered. "If you're both very good boys, then I'll get you a pie."

"Pie?" The twin brothers were nearly tripping over themselves in their haste to get out the door.

"Alright, now what's the secret?" Tahiri asked. "Is it juicy? Small, big, stupid? Political matter, personal? Well, c'mon, spit it out!"

"I would if you gave me a chance to talk!" Jacen said. "Well, pretty much, I'm trying to get Jaina and Zekk together. I've enlisted Kionne and Marin's help but any dirt or additional ideas would be great."

Lowie growled a question.

"I'll tell you," Jacen stated.

XaXaXaXa-

_(**Rock Dragon**) _

"Jaina, you in here?" Zekk called. He walked up the ramp of the _Rock Dragon_. He already knew she was in there – he just asked out of habit. There was a muffled reply from somewhere near the engines. He walked further into the ship. "Jaina, come out, I want to talk to you."

"No way," came the response. It sounded closer.

"Jay, where are you?" Zekk called. He took a couple more steps.

"I'm not here!"

"You can't hide forever!"

"Yes, I can!"

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"Can't!" Zekk kept walking until he saw a pair of worn out old boots sticking out of the engine crawl space. "Hah, found you!"

Jaina groaned and crept out. "You always were too good at hide-and-seek."

"Of course; you can't beat me at finding things." Zekk grinned at Jaina's disgruntled look. He grabbed a nearby rag and held it out to her. Jaina looked her grimy hands and then at the cloth and back to her hands. She bypassed the cloth and wiped her hands on Zekk's shirt. "Hey, this was a new shirt!"

"Yeah, so?"

Zekk laughed. "Well, now my clothes are dirty thanks to you."

"You're welcome, now can I get back to work?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, but you can't. I left my breakfast to talk to you. So, we are going to talk whether you like it or not." Zekk made himself comfortable against the engine compartment. Jaina leaned against the wall opposite from him. Their legs brushed each other every now and then because of the small space. "So what was with you at breakfast? And earlier this morning when you got up?"

"Nothing, like I said, it was just a dream."

"Well something about it has you freaking out."

She avoided his gaze. "It's not important; it just kind of startled me for a bit. I'm okay now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am." A beeping sound filled the room coming from Jaina's belt. She picked up her comlink and answered it, "Solo here; talk to me."

"Master?" Kionne's voice filtered through the link. "I thought we were supposed to be working on my blocking today."

"Oh, yeah, we are, I'll be in the gym in 15." Jaina stood. "I gotta go tend to my apprentice."

"Yeah, so do I, Marin needs to work on her meditation. That girl has a hard time standing still."

"I'll see you later," Jaina said as she stood and walked off.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Training room, with Jaina and Kionne)_

"Master, how long have you and Master Zekk known each other?" Kionne asked.

"A long time," Jaina responded.

"How long?" Kionne blocked a high slash aimed for her head.

"Since I was about ten or nine; I can't really remember."

Jaina lashed out with her foot and tripped her apprentice. Kionne rolled away and sprang to her feet. Kionne asked, "How did you two meet?"

"It was a chance meeting; we literally ran into each other," Jaina answered with a small laugh.

The sabers clashed when Kionne blocked yet another slash of Jaina's blade. Jaina pulled back and launched a series of swift stabs at Kionne's left. The female hybrid barely batted them away before she lost her balance and fell. Her master took the opportunity to knock Kionne's lightsaber out of her hand.

Kionne sighed and fell back against the training mat. "I guess this is why I need to work on my blocking."

Jaina laughed and sat down. "Yep, it looks like I'm going to have to give you some homework. I want you to practice those blocking exercises I taught you with the staff or stun stick. You need to do them in the morning, evening, and after meals for thirty minutes. We'll see if you've improved at the end of the week."

"Yes, ma'am; were you and Master Zekk good friends?"

Jaina paused in wiping the sweat off her face. "Yes," she said after a few moments of thought, "we were close, very close. It was almost like Jacen and me, but different." She smiled sadly and shook her head. "That was along time ago."

"What happened?"

"The war and doing different things; we grew apart and found that we didn't know each other any more."

"Oh."

"What's with the questions?" Jaina gave a slightly suspicious look.

"No reason, just curious," Kionne said. She stood and stated, "Master, I have made an appointment with your brother today."

"Oh? What are you and Jacen going to do?"

"He's going to show me some of the animals in his menagerie!"

Jaina made a face and waved her hand in dismissal. "All right, get outta here."

Kionne smiled and ran out. She pulled out a recorder and rewound it.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Marin and Zekk, the other training room)_

"Marin, you need to relax," Zekk said.

"But I can't! This is so boring! We've been sitting here for an hour! Not moving or anything!" Marin whined.

Zekk rubbed his temples. "Please, just empty your mind of all other thoughts; let the Force flow through you –"

"I've been doing that!"

"Alright, alright, never mind! Just practice when you get up, after midday meal, and before you go to bed."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, let's do a little review. How about I set up the remote and you can practice for a bit," Zekk suggested.

"Okay!" Marin exclaimed. She stood up and pulled out her lightsaber. "Master, how did you and Jaina meet?"

Zekk's hands froze over the controls. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious, you two seem to mention growing up together a bit. What was it like at the old Jedi academy with her, while we're at on the subject?"

Zekk put the remote off to the side. He leaned against the wall with his hand underneath his chin. "I met Jaina when she was trying to escape from the holopress." He gave a small chuckle. "We ran straight into each other." His face grew distant. "You know that I was first trained at Shadow Academy, right?"

Marin nodded.

"Well, for a year after that I became a bounty hunter." The distant look grew stronger. "Sith, I missed her that year… I mean them. But after dealing with the Diversity Alliance, I went to the Academy."

"Yeah, well, what was it like?"

"Oh, umm… it was fun, I guess."

"Yes, yes, that's all great, but what did you do together?"

"Err… well, normally after lessons, we would swim or work on the ships if we didn't get assigned anything. Every now and then, Jaina and I would walk through the jungle. The others would sometimes come, too." Zekk had a wistful smile on his chiseled features. His eyes held the far off look for a few more seconds, then Zekk shook it off and looked at Marin. "Hey, you, don't think you can distract me from making you work."

Marin grinned. "Mrow, you caught me!" She ignited her lightsaber and a green blade sprang out. "Okay, let's go!"

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jacen's menagerie)_

"Is this all you got?" Jacen asked Kionne.

The pink-skinned girl nodded.

"Okay then, I'll see what I can do with this bit of intelligence." Jacen moved around and started to feed some of the animals. "Kionne, do you have any idea what could be taking Marin?"

She shook her head and started to rip up some greens for Jacen's Clakdor frog-turtle.

"Meow, I'm here!" Marin called as she slid into the room. "The training session with Master Zekk ran longer than normal."

"That's all right," Jacen said. He finished feeding his miniature Mon Cal jellyfish and closed the tank. "So, what have you got for us?"

Marin sighed. "Nothing that wasn't known already."

"Kriff," Jacen swore. "Pardon my Corellian; that's okay, we can do without. Now," he placed his datapad on the table, "in this datapad I have two messages for Going Solo and Goddess. You guys need to get Techno Boy for me so I can make him send these messages under aliases."

"Yes, sir!" Both girls mock-saluted and ran out.

XaXaXaXa-

_(random place #1)_

"I hate identical twins," Marin declared.

"Me too, why do their Force presences have to be so hard to tell apart?"

"Beats me," Marin sighed. "Have you had any luck with his comm?"

"No, I keep getting a busy signal."

_(random place #2)_

"What do you mean there's no way for you to deliver me cookies and milk? C'mon, Mom, you can do anything, and Hapan cookies don't taste the same as yours!"

_(Back to random place#1 with Kionne and Marin)_

"We'll just have to hunt them down using the Force," Kionne stated.

"This is going to take forever!" Marin exclaimed.

"Well, let's go."

They reached out and found one of the brothers. He was in a room, presumably his. The two apprentices raced off. The halls they went through led them towards the living quarters just as expected. One of the Kenys twins was behind the Hapan wood door now in front of them. Marin knocked three times.

The door swung open and the twin said, "Eh? Whaddya want?"

"Which one are you?" Kionne asked.

"Which one am I?"

"Yes!" Both exclaimed in unison.

"I don't understand the question."

"How can you not understand?" Marin asked.

"Understand what?"

"Who are you?" Kionne exclaimed.

"Umm… Mystiran Kenys?"

"Oops, sorry, wrong one!" Marin grabbed the door knob and shut it.

"Let's try again," Kionne said. Once more, they reached out and felt for the other Kenys. He was in a nearby room, two halls down.

Alaric was closing his door behind him when the two girls sprang upon him.

"You're coming with us!" Kionne said. She grabbed his left arm.

"We're borrowing you for now," Marin added as she grasped his other arm.

Alaric blinked. "Where am I being borrowed?"

"I'm sorry but that's confidential information," Kionne answered. Marin pulled out a piece of black cloth and tied it around his head.

Alaric frowned. "But I was going to spar with 'Ran."

"There'll be cookies," Marin said.

Alaric wrenched himself out of their grasp and sprinted off. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Master Kenys, that's the wrong direction!"

"Mrow, watch out for the –"

BAM!

"- wall."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jacen's menagerie)_

"Emperor's Black Bones, what happened to him?" Jacen asked.

Marin and Kionne supported Alaric Kenys into the room. His head lolled around, his eyes still covered with the blindfold.

"Master Kenys had an argument with a wall," Kionne started.

"And lost," Marin added.

"Wow, that must've been some fight," Jacen commented as he removed the blindfold.

Alaric's unfocused eyes turned to Jacen. "Mommy?"

Jacen coughed and ignored him. "Just give me a minute to heal him a little. We don't want him sending the messages to Chief Omas, now do we?" He set his hands on Alaric's head and reached for the Force. A minute later, Jacen drew his hands away. "Alaric should be okay for now."

On cue, Alaric groaned. "Did someone catch the registration of that freighter?"

"Sorry," Marin said, "we didn't."

"Do I smell cookies?" Alaric asked. He sat up and looked around eagerly.

"Why, yes, Alaric, you do," Jacen said. He stood and grabbed a plate. "Hot, yummy, chocolate cookies." Jacen waved the plate in front of Alaric with each word.

The technologically inclined blond leapt at the plate. "Gimme!"

Jacen held him back by putting a hand on his head. Alaric strained against him, arms waving frantically for the plate of cookie goodness just out of his reach. "Ah, ah, ah… You have to work for these. So, will you do whatever I ask?"

"Anything!"

"Good." Jacen moved his hand and Alaric fell face first onto the floor. "Now, Alaric, I want you to send these messages to these people, got it? But you must hack into the system under these names. Do you get it?"

"Consider it done."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina's room)_

"Hello, what's this? New message?" Zekk grabbed his datapad - which was vibrating the heck out of his pants – and saw a blinking icon which indicated a new holomessage. The message was text only and said:

_**Zekk, **_

_**Meet me in front of the entrance garden at 1700. **_

_**Nada-n-Zip**_

"What the? Who's that?" He scratched his head. "Well, it can't hurt to see whatever this guy wants."

XaXaXaXa-

_(comm station)_

"I'm just going to check my messages; not do any work, just messages," Jaina repeated to herself. She sat at one of the stations and accessed her account.

There was on new message.

"To: GreatOne

Subject: Appointment

From: Idonotexist"

Jaina scratched her head. "Who the –" The message opened of its own accord.

It said:

**_Jaina Solo, _**

_**Meet me in front of the entrance garden at 1700. **_

_**Idonotexist**_

"Hmm… I guess it won't hurt to see what this guy wants," Jaina said. She glanced at her chronometer. It read 1655. "I better go now if I'm going to make it."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jacen's menagerie)_

"Can I have the cookies now?"

TBC-

Well? What did you think? Was it worth the wait? It's longer than normal. Well, until next time!

**Reviews: **

**Gundam: ** This is your name from now on, got it? The other one is too long to type in the middle of the night. You assume that Jaina and Zekk are going to find out about the matchmaking. I'm not that mean. I happen to like Kionne and Marin.

**Aramor Lady of Mirkwood: **You're welcome, and thank you for wishing me well on my trip! I really missed the computer while I was gone.

**California Mountain Girl:** Hehe, you haven't seen awkward yet. You've seen my humor. Comedy is my middle name… Well, it should be. Thanks for reviewing.


	13. Tenel Ka the Pyschiatrist

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Important Author Note:** School has just started last Wednesday for me, so the posts are going to come slower until I get settled in with the new way of life.

On a lighter note, the people who can name all of the YJK references (classic lines and personalities) gets a cookie.

Chapter Thirteen: Tenel Ka the Psychiatrist

No one was in the entrance gardens when Zekk arrived. Then again, Zekk was three minutes early, so this "Nada-n-Zip" had a bit of time. He strolled down the path a bit, absently admiring the flora that lined the walkway. His Jedi senses flared when he felt Jaina's presence right before she rounded the corner.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Zekk, what are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for someone, you?" Zekk asked.

"Someone's supposed to meet me here," Jaina said, looking around with arms akimbo. In general, Jaina seemed to be annoyed.

Zekk frowned slightly, hoping very much that Jaina hadn't made a new "acquaintance". Hoping that he sounded somewhat casual, Zekk asked, "Who are you meeting?"

"Umm… I actually don't know. I just got some weird holomessage." Jaina gave a sheepish smile.

"I don't know who I'm meeting, either," Zekk said. He hoped his relief didn't show too much through the Force. "How about we wait another five minutes, it's 1705, and if they don't come we go for a walk instead?"

The lopsided smile he had missed so much was all he needed to know the answer. Five minutes flew by quickly and without hesitation the two Jedi started to walk down the main garden path. Ivy was draped over trees whose branches stretched out and shaded the path. Around the base of the trees were artfully arranged flowerbeds. Neither of them could name the species of plants they saw, but had fun coming up with what they thought the names were. The path itself was flat stones set into the ground to lead the way.

A breeze blew in making the branches gently sway. For Zekk, most of the landscape's beauty was lost to him as joked with his best friend. It was the day's highlight, for he had Jaina all to himself, something that had become rare since the preparations of the wedding went under way. Doing stupid things like guessing plant names took Zekk back to the days where they would tromp through Yavin 4's jungles together.

"It's nice," Jaina said.

"Hmm?"

"I meant that it's nice just to do… nothing. I haven't done nothing in years!"

"I know what you mean. It's been forever since there wasn't something that couldn't wait to be done."

A distant roaring sound suddenly came to their ears. It wasn't a snub fighter, though it was still familiar. Jaina apparently recognized it, for her grin became wider and she raced off, yelling, "Catch me it you can, old man!"

Zekk let out a noise of protest but still ran after her. He weaved in and out of trees as Jaina took them onto a slightly more wooded area that had no definite path markings. Despite Jaina's slight head start, he never lost sight of her. While his navigation through the foliage distracted him slightly, Zekk still noted the roaring sound was growing louder by the second. He rounded the bend at top speed… And crashed right into Jaina.

They tumbled into a pool of water below them, created by a waterfall that was the source of the sound that they had followed. Both came up sputtering. They treaded on water – the pond was surprisingly deep – while they attempted to wipe the water from their eyes.

"Looks like your senses have grown dull from your advanced age," Jaina teased.

Zekk growled and made a quick grab for her. She laughed and evaded. They kept up the game until Zekk finally caught her and dunked her underneath the water. Jaina came up sputtering and glared at him. Zekk responded with a smirk and asked, "Now who's getting old?"

She submerged half of her head and gave him a cold look. Just when he was starting to get unsettled by her constant glaring, she rose up and spat a mouthful of water in his face.

"Hey, that was unfair!" Zekk said. He rubbed the water out of his eyes. "I was off-guard."

"Whoever said I fight fair?" Jaina asked. She leaned back – a smirk on her face – and started to float.

Zekk laughed. "Good point." Then he mimicked Jaina and started to float on his back.

Finally, after floating for quite some time, Zekk rolled over and swam to the bank. Jaina copied a few seconds later. Out of the water, Zekk felt acutely uncomfortable. His clothes were soaked and at some point he had lost the tie that held his hair back.

Jaina grumbled, obviously, she felt as uncomfortable in squishy clothesas he did. "Stupid water, why does it have to be so wet?" He tried to fight back a laugh, but was unable to. Jaina immediately looked up from her attempt to get some of the water out of her hair. Her eyes narrowed. "What was that, Zekk?"

He forced back another laugh and managed to stammer out, "N – nothing."

"Good, because it's your fault in the first place that we're in this position," Jaina stated matter-of-factly.

"My fault?" Zekk asked. "How is it my fault?"

"You weren't watching where you were going."

Zekk fought the urge to roll his eyes. He decided not to tell her that is was most decidedly her fault since there would be no convincing her otherwise. "Should we head back? It's almost time for evening meal."

Jaina cheered up considerably. The water had made her ravenous. "What are we waiting for?"

"My underwear to dry?" Zekk suggested.

Jaina snorted and started to walk away. Zekk easily caught up to her and the two slowly made their way back to the original path. But as the walk grew on, Jaina's good mood lessened, possibly because with every step she took, her shoes squished and her clothes were becoming heavy from the water. "It's still your fault," she grumbled.

Zekk sighed and then noticed a window of opportunity. His most charming smile suddenly appeared on his face and he gave a small bow. Seeming to pull it out of thin air, a flower appeared in Zekk's hand. "Well then, please, accept my deepest apologies."

A few levels up, this scene was being observed. Jacen leaned against the window pane, brow raised in thought. "Blaster bolts," Jacen muttered, "Zekk can put on the charm, even if it is clichéd."

He watched as Jaina accepted the flower and grinned at Zekk. Neither of them was aware that they were being watched.

"Jacen?" He waved his hand forward, not looking away from the scene below. Tenel Ka came forward. "What are you looking at?"

"You already know."

"This is a fact. Is your plan working?" She rested her head on his shoulder as Jacen put an arm around her.

"Somewhat, this all would have happened eventually, I'm just speeding things along."

"Ah. Aha." She paused, then asked, "Should I have the servants deliver evening meal to everyone's quarters? We can eat in tonight."

Jacen smirked and turned from the window to look down at her. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Yes, that sounds like a great idea, I'll comm so she can spread the word."

"No need, I have already notified everyone else and there's a note waiting for them when they return to their quarters."

Jacen's smile grew. "What would I do without you?"

"Get lost on your way to the refresher unit?"

"Hey, that only happened three times!"

"It still happened, did it not?" She started to walk off, leaving a pouting Jacen behind. He blinked a few times before following his fiancée.

XaXaXaXa-

(Jaina/Zekk's room)

Jaina walked straight into the room and Zekk paused long enough to grab a piece of flimsi that had been taped to the door. He followed Jaina indoors; both of them were still dripping wet. He blinked momentarily at the note and then turned to Jaina, about to tell her what it said. Unfortunately, he turned when Jaina was struggling to get the top part of her jumpsuit off. She managed to pull the wet garment off revealing a light gray tank top that was just as wet as the original had been. The difference was that this one stuck to her like a second skin. His cheeks flushed a bright red and he quickly turned away.

"Uhh… Jaina?"

"Hmm? Zekk, what's up? Is there something on the door?"

He face went an even deeper shade of red. "C-could you umm… put your shirt back on?"

"Huh?" Jaina laughed. "Zekk, you're such a baby, you've seen worse when we went swimming as kids."

She was right, he knew that for a fact, and there was no way she would let him live it down if he didn't turn around now. Sighing in defeat he turned to see Jaina giving hima mocking smile. He tried to keep his face on anything except her. His new focus became the flimsi in his hand that had been momentarily forgotten.

"Jaina, we're eating in here tonight," Zekk stated.

"Why?" She came up next to him and peered at the note.

"I don't know."

Jaina sighed. "Well, before the food comes I'm going to take a shower."

Zekk looked up at her in surprise – forgetting why he had been staring at the flimsi in the first place. He fought to keep his eyes from looking her over and said, "You're already wet, what's the point?"

"That water may not be as clean as it looks," Jaina stated. Zekk rolled his eyes and quickly snatched a towel out of the 'fresher before she went in.

When he had finished drying and dressed in new clothes on, the door chime rang. He muttered a curse – as he had just gotten settled into the chair – and stood. Muttering indistinctly he walked over to the door and opened it. A young handmaiden – about 14 years old – stood there. When she caught sight of Zekk her face went a bright shade of red and she stared at him. He scratched his head, waiting for her to say something for about five seconds before he became impatient. "Is there something you wanted?" he asked.

"Uhh…" This was crazy; he was about to give in to the extremely rude urge to shut the door in her face when she said, "I have a message for Zekk and Jaina Solo."

"Okay, what is it?" She faltered a moment and continued to stare at him dazedly for a while. To him, it looked like she was in a trance of some sort or that she had somehow fallen asleep with her eyes open. He waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Anyone awake in there?"

Suddenly she snapped out of her daze and stated loudly, "I'm to tell you that your food will come in thirty minutes!"

Zekk jumped and started at her for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Great, thanks."

Then she started to stare at him again, her face growing redder by the second. Was a screw loose in her head? Did she normally go this color when she was talking to people? Starting to get concerned Zekk took a step towards her and asked, "Are you alright?"

The handmaiden squeaked and ran off leaving Zekk to stare at the spot with confusion. After a few moments of wondering what her problem was he shook his head and muttered, "Women."

There was a loud snapping sound and Zekk felt a sharp pain in his lower back. He turned around and looked down to see a fully clothed Jaina. She was standing there with a towel in her hand in position to give him another snap with it. Zekk rubbed his back and indignantly asked, "What was that for?"

"What did you mean by 'women'?" she asked.

"Nothing."

She snapped him in the leg before walking away to sit down on a chair. Zekk let out a yelp and managed to mostly move out of the towel's way. After she got settled, Jaina looked incredibly happy. It made Zekk wonder if she was having emotional problems with her sudden change of moods. She even looked over at him and smiled. "Zekk, when's food coming? I'm starved!"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course, we went swimming; it makes anyone willing to eat even your mother's cooking."

Much to his surprise Jaina didn't raise the towel against him, as a matter of fact, she was laughing. "I forgot you were there when mom decided to give cooking a try. I must say that I have never seen Giju stew in such a bright shade of pink before."

"I can still remember what it tasted like; I thought I was being eaten inside out," Zekk said.

"My cooking isn't that bad, right?" Jaina asked after a few seconds.

"Yours is edible," Zekk said. "If it wasn't do you still think I'd be around?"

Jaina used the Force to send one of the pillows from the bed flying at him. He easily evaded the attack and sat down in the other chair. The remote levitated off the coffee table and into his hand. Zekk channel surfed for a few minutes before Jaina repeated, "Seriously, when's the food coming?"

"Some handmaiden came by and said that it would be here in thirty minutes."

"How long has it been?"

"Barely five minutes."

Jaina groaned and got out of the chair. She made a beeline for the bed and fell face first onto it. As to what purpose that would serve to alleviate her hunger, Zekk knew not, but he let her continue uninterrupted. He was soon engrossed in watching some sporting event; it involved people in two parallel lines fighting over a ball which one person was to throw to these guys who ran off ahead of the others. This diversion almost made him forget that he was not alone in the room until he heard a faint but distinct beeping. Without letting his eyes drift from the screen he reached down to shut off his comlink only to find that it was off.

Now he looked around in alarm only to see Jaina now sitting on the bed propped up against the headboard. She was holding a datapad in one hand with the stylus poised over the screen with the other. She was engrossed with what was on the screen. Zekk had an inkling of what was on the datapad and meant to put a stop to it immediately. He cautiously reached out to the Force, being careful that Jaina didn't notice. Then, the datapad soared out of Jaina's hand into his waiting one. With a flick, the stylus that was in Jaina's other hand came flying to Zekk as well.

He peered at the screen and was unsurprised to see an unfinished supply list for the Twin Suns. He raised an accusing eyebrow at Jaina that clearly said "explain".

She gave a sheepish smile. "I needed something to do?"

"Yeah, right. This is supposed to be a vacation," Zekk stated. He saved the supply list and turned the datapad off. "I'm going to keep this for you until we're en route to Mon Calamari so you won't be tempted."

"Zekk!" Jaina whined. She groaned and rolled off the bed, landing in a crouch. "Give it back." She walked across the room and made a half-hearted attempt to retrieve it.

"I'm sorry, Jaina, but this is the way it has to be," he said whilst pocketing the device.

"You're mean," Jaina said as she sat on the floor.

"To the core," Zekk agreed.

She hit his arm and asked, "How long until food comes?"

"I don't know, five minutes?"

Jaina cheered just as the door chime rang. She sprang up and ran over to it and thrust the door open. Alaric stood there smiling. Jaina's face fell and said, "Oh, it's you."

Alaric blinked in confusion. "Yeah, I know it's me. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Hey, Al," Zekk greeted as he walked up to prevent Jaina from further being rude, "did you need something?"

"Umm… Jaina told me to get her copies of the Twin Sunsbudget and what we've been spending in the past two months," Alaric answered.

"Were you?" Zekk said, glancing at Jaina with a raised brow. "Why don't you give them to me?"

"Why? Jaina's right here," he stated, pointing to emphasize this.

"Yes, yes, I know, but Jaina's been having a problem with getting flimsi cuts lately and I wouldn't want her to get another."

"Hey, I have –" Zekk covered her mouth with his hand.

"I'm sorry, Al, she's a bit embarrassed by it."

"Oh, okay. Here ya go!" He handed a fair stack of flimsies into Zekk's hand. "I hope your flimsi cut problem stops soon, Jaina. I'm gonna go and see if that handmaiden came by with the food cart yet." He cheerfully ran down the hall, which was when Zekk noticed he had been wearing socks, and Alaric slid straight into a wall while trying to turn.

Zekk shut the door with a sigh and removed his hand from Jaina's mouth.

"Flimsi cut problem?" Was all Jaina could get out before the door chime rang again, this time with the food.

XaXaXaXa-

_(Mystiran and Tahiri)_

"'Ran, is that the food?" Tahiri called from the refresher unit.

"Yep, finish washing your hands before I eat it all," Mystiran responded as he wheeled the cart over to the room's couch and flopped down.

"Oh, no you don't. I'm coming! I learned my lesson: never let 'Ran eat before me or there will be nothing left when I arrive." She sat down next to him and eagerly looked at the cart. "So what's on the menu? I hope there's some of that chocolate stuff; what's it called again? Oh yeah, mousse, thanks. Are there any bantha ribs? No, wait, there wouldn't be, would there? After all, Hapes is by no means close to Tatooine. Why are you just sitting there? Serve the food up!"

"As you wish," Mystiran said, handing her a salad while helping himself to the dessert tray. Tahiri gave him a stern look and he sheepishly put the desserts back on the plate and opted for some meat instead.

"By the way, did you take your medicine?"

"Err…"

"I thought that was the case."

"I'll take it after dinner?"

"Of course you will, even if I have to pry your mouth open with pair of tongs and shove it down your throat."

"That would hurt."

"Yes, it would," Tahiri agreed, smiling cheerfully. She picked up a dish that she couldn't pronounce but vaguely recognized as being good. Mystiran, on the other hand, didn't care what he put into his mouth. He was getting into his eating mode. It was at times like these that she wondered if Alaric and her husband had switched places. Speaking of Alaric, where was he? "'Ran, where's Al? It isn't like him to miss a meal. I thought he would be eating with us. Speaking of which, do you know why Jacen and Tenel Ka wanted us to eat in our rooms tonight? Not that I'm complaining, after all, I can eat more dessert without looking like a pig, but it makes me curious. What do you think? 'Ran, are you listening? Hello, say something!"

"I would, but unfortunately you didn't pause long enough for me to speak. And Al probably didn't want to share. But don't worry; he'll be by later to trade us for the wakku nuts. He hates them. I planned on saving some of that mounder potato rice for him," Mystiran said. He had finished the meat with remarkable speed and was now digging into a bowl of soup using fresh bread to soak it up.

"Are we going to tell them soon?"

"No, after the wedding."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Tenel Ka's office)_

"We have the flowers and the invitations have been sent out," said one of Tenel Ka's many aides.

"Good," Tenel Ka responded. "Are all preparations for the ceremony going as planned?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. There will be another dress fitting for the bridesmaids and yourself this afternoon."

"Very well." Switching gears, Tenel Ka asked, "We have heard that a scientist wishes to request a grant. Let us see her application."

XaXaXaXa-

_(Jaina/Zekk's room)_

She had the dream again… Or a variation of it at least. This was getting ridiculous. Why was she constantly having the multiple variations based off the dream where she and Zekk were married with kids? It wasn't that being married to Zekk would be bad – she'd rather it be him than some stranger – but it felt… weird. Her feelings on this were mixed and jumbled. Jaina barely had any time alone to think things through. The only time she was by herself was in the refresher unit.

At night, she could barely get any sleep – the dreams never failed to come. Her confusion and frustration must be obvious, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, people constantly asked about her health. Even Alaric noticed something was wrong! The worst part was that Zekk and Jacen especially noticed her distraction.

Jaina wanted to tell someone but Jacen was out of the question, Lowie, Mystiran, and Alaric wouldn't understand and Tahiri would be too busy keeping Mystiran and Alaric in line. She couldn't tell Zekk what was wrong; he was part of the reason. It would be too awkward and ruin their newly regained friendship. At least, that's what she told herself. So now she was headed towards the one person who would surely know what to do. Jaina ignored the Hapan woman that attempted to stop and knocked once on the door before entering.

"Tenel Ka?" The warrior queen was surrounded by aides, counselors, and handmaidens. All looked up when she entered and Jaina suddenly felt self-conscious. Maybe she should have waited. "Do you have a minute? I was wondering if we could talk?"

"We will be able to speak with you in fifteen minutes if you do not mind the wait."

"It's fine, I'll be in the waiting room." Jaina turned and left the office. She sat in a chair and waited as patiently as she could for fifteen minutes to pass. As always, Tenel Ka was punctual, for exactly at the fifteen minute mark, all the people that had been in her office filed out and she gestured Jaina inside.

When Jaina was settled, Tenel Ka – always one to go straight to the point – asked, "What it is that's troubling you, friend Jaina?" 

"Well," Jaina started, beginning to feel like it was a bad idea to talk, "I've been having a dream lately."

Tenel Ka waited for Jaina to continue, but when she didn't, asked, "What is the dream about?"

"It's not really just one dream… More like different variations based off of the first one," Jaina explained. Deciding that it would be best just to admit all, she forged on, "It really isn't all that bad it just makes my life… awkward. It always starts out with day-to-day stuff like cleaning or work." She paused trying to think of how to word what came next.

"What is so bad about that?"

"Nothing!" Jaina exclaimed. She sighed. "It's the people who are in it. They're dreams about my children."

Tenel Ka gave her an appraising look. "Friend Jaina, it sounds to me like these are more than dreams. What's so wrong about dreaming of the possible future?"

"Well, they're…" she trailed off incoherently, her face coloring as she did so.

"Pardon?"

"They're my kids… with Zekk."

"Ah. Aha. I see we have reached the root of the problem. Do you dislike the idea of having that sort of relationship with friend Zekk?"

"No, yes, maybe? I… don't know," Jaina admitted. "I'm confused right now."

"Perhaps you should talk about this with friend Zekk."

"Sith, no –"

Tenel Ka silenced her by holding a hand up. "It would make more sense for you to discuss this with him instead of me. After all, friend Zekk does play a role in your 'dreams'."

"But that would be embarrassing! I can't just go up to him and say, 'Guess what, Zekk? You're not going to believe this but I've been having dreams where we're married with children'!"

"Why not?"

"It –"

Once again, Tenel Ka interrupted her, "Friend Jaina, this had to do with friend Zekk and you should work it out with him."

Jaina sighed in resignation. The look on Tenel Ka's face said she would not debate this any further and the only path for Jaina to take was submission to her decision. After all, wasn't that why she had come to Tenel Ka in the first place? To ask for help on deciding what to do? She stood and said farewell then left to face the person occupying her dreams.

TBC-

Well? How'd you like it? I'm afraid this actually has some plot. I know, shocking isn't it? Oh yes, to repeat my earlier message, there's a cookie for anyone who can name all the YJK classics in this chapter.

**IRs: **

**DathomiranAuthorRoamer:** I do try with Al. Just wait until the end of the story when I clear some things up about him, it'll knock your socks off. You're going to feel sorry for Jaina now. And this cliffie is now down right evil if I do say so myself.

**Aramor Lady of Mirkwood:** Here it is, I hope you enjoyed this one as much as the last.

**Ice-maiden9191:** Thanks!

**Anya Urameshi:** I thought your review once one of the funniest things I'd ever seen! I am interested and I think I already reviewed a couple of them. I'm glad you decided to stop by! Oh and one more thing… NEW READER!

**Kratos42:** Dude, I did think you were a girl at first, no offense. I must say 'Hear, Hear!' on your statement about Jag, my sentiments exactly. And if you don't mind me doing this **_...hugs…_** You're my first male reader I know about on ff.n! Thanks! Oh yes… NEW READER… AGAIN! **_…cheers…_**


	14. The Wedding

Hey all, miss me? I'm alive!

A: JediBubbles would like us to remind everyone that she owns nothing…

M: Except for us. deadpan voice Yay us.

A: She also would like to state that she's only been to a wedding once –

M: And that was a long time ago so she's mainly flying by the seat of her pants.

Okay here's your chapter!

----------

Chapter Fourteen: The Wedding

Jaina peered around her before leaping into the tree. She was on the run from the Wedding Planner of Doom. At least that's what she and Jacen called her. Zekk thought the lady was a little pushy but otherwise okay. But, then again, he didn't know to fear party planners. Tenel Ka had hired the lady when some of the plans had started to go off track. It was now two days away from the aforementioned wedding and the planner was striking terror into the Solo twins' hearts. Jaina shuddered and nearly fell out of the tree. She grabbed the trunk for balance and made a mental note to get back into the practice of climbing trees again. Honestly, the stupid wedding planner had reduced her, Jaina Solo, to hiding in trees.

Ms. Planner – that's what she told them to call her – wasn't evil in the least, just a little "over-enthusiastic" as Zekk put it. Jacen and Jaina, however, were convinced that she was sent by their mother to remind them of the old days. There was nothing they hated more than people who forced them to practice etiquette, try on clothes, and use those diplomatic skills that had been instilled in them since they were toddlers.

"There you are, Miss Solo! Come on down! We must get you fitted for your dress!" Ms. Planner came running over to the tree and started shaking it. The wedding planner had frizzy black hair that was kept in an untidy bun and glasses she seemed to constantly misplace while they were on her head. Her clothes were wrinkled and there seemed to be a slight sense of disorganization around her, which was the exact opposite of her personality. "Miss Solo, you really must come down. After all, we still haven't picked out the material for the fourth banquet dress!" Jaina hopped down and started to run away.

Ms. Planner chased after her in pursuit yelling, "Miss Solo, we haven't even gone over your hairstyles yet! Please stop!"

Somehow Ms. Planner kept up with Jaina while wearing heels. This spawned another mental note for Jaina to start taking long runs in the morning so she could be prepared to escape from crazed party planners. Jaina was about to run around the corner when an arm shot out and grabbed her around the middle. The arm pulled her to its owner's chest and held her fast. She was caught.

"Thank goodness for you, Mr. Zekk! You have no idea how much trouble it was to catch her!" Ms. Planner stopped in front of them, panting.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Zekk said. Although Jaina couldn't see him, she could tell he was slightly amused by this.

"Yes, well, I need to take her to the tailor's rather quickly so we can pick out some more fabric and then –"

"I can take her," Zekk volunteered

"Really? That'll be wonderful! That gives me time to hunt down the groom. I think I saw him near the refresher units last time I saw him…" Ms. Planner wondered off trying to find Jacen.

Once she was out of sight, Jaina sighed in relief and said, "Thanks for getting rid of her, Zekk." When she attempted to break free of Zekk's hold and make an escape, he tightened his grip. "Zekk, you can let go now, she's gone."

"No I can't, I'm taking you to the tailor's. You need to get things done," Zekk said.

Suddenly, the scene shifted. The children who had been haunting Jaina's dreams appeared. She had seen them so often that now she was able to identify all of them. Carey was the one who looked a lot like Zekk and the eldest boy and child. Next was Maeve who was the second eldest and had her brown hair but Zekk's eyes. The third child was Ailis who had Zekk's almost black hair but blue eyes like her uncle. They were all seated around a table with a laughing Zekk and a very pregnant Jaina.

"Mommy, did you really run away from Uncle Jacen and Aunt Tenel Ka's wedding planner?" Ailis asked.

Jaina blushed slightly and slapped Zekk in the shoulder prompting him to change his laughter into an, "Ow! Hey, Jay, what'd I do?"

"That lady was a raving lunatic," Jaina said.

Zekk erupted into laughter again. "You're still maintaining that? She was a little eager but nothing else," Zekk said.

"So says the man who hasn't seen people like them. Trust me; she was a raving, mad, lunatic. And Carey, stop trying to shove your vegetables under the table, eat them," Jaina added on.

The boy gave a guilty smile and started to eat his dinner. "Yes, ma'am."

Noting that her husband was still laughing, Jaina moved his bowl of pudding out of his spoon's way with the Force causing it to hit the table instead. He gave an indignant noise and protested, "Jaina, give me back the pudding."

"I noticed you didn't eat your vegetables either, so no dessert for you." He attempted to snatch it back, also using the Force, but Jaina was resolute. He pouted as Jaina spooned vegetables onto his plate. "If you can eat all of that," she said, speaking to him slowly as if he was a child, "then you can have your dessert."

Zekk scowled and Jaina leaned over and kissed his cheek before sticking her own spoon into his pudding. She took a few bites before Zekk noticed that she had been eating his pudding. "Hey! How come you get to eat dessert?"

"Because I set a good example and ate my veggies, right girls?" Jaina asked. Maeve and Ailis nodded.

"Wait a minute; I thought you were on my side, Ailis! Don't you love me anymore?" Zekk teased.

The little girl made a shocked noise and was out of her seat hugging her father before you could say "lightspeed". "'Course I do, daddy!"

"Do you love your daddy enough to give him your pudding?" Zekk asked.

The child thought for a moment before shaking her head. "It's mine and mommy says I shouldn't give you any."

"And how is mommy telling you this without daddy knowing?" Zekk asked, glancing at his laughing wife.

"Through the Force," Ailis answered.

Zekk pouted and kneeled in front of Jaina's bulging stomach. "You two won't gang up on me, right? You'll be on my side."

"Doubt it, Zekk," Jaina said.

Zekk stuck his tongue out at her and continued to talk to his unborn children as though Jaina wasn't there. Carey looked at his dad with a raised eyebrow and said, "Dad, you're talking to mom's stomach."

"No I'm not; I'm having a conversation with your brother and sister," Zekk corrected.

"That have yet to be born."

"Technicalities," Zekk said waving his hand dismissively.

Jaina smiled slightly and patted his head. "Well, look who's spending too much time around my dad. Sorry to interrupt, but I need to go to the 'fresher."

"Thanks for sharing," Zekk said as he helped her up.

The dream faded and Jaina woke up quickly. That one hadn't been too bad. Maybe they were starting to fade away? And what was with the first part? She would never hide in a tree. Okay, maybe she did it once, but that had been a desperate time and there weren't many hiding places around.

Jaina climbed out of the bed carefully and moved to the refresher unit to take a quick shower. She gave a quick glance in Zekk's direction before closing the door behind her. For the past few days, Jaina had attempted to tell him about the dreams without any success. Whenever she tried either her courage failed or someone interrupted. So, for the past three days, she had taken to avoiding being alone with him as much as possible. It was rather childish, but she came to the decision that it would be best if Zekk didn't know about the dreams just yet. After all, why ruin their friendship? She stepped into the shower and ten minutes later she was out.

She dried off and then got dressed. When she emerged from the refresher unit, she found Zekk waiting for her, wide awake but still in his pajamas. His arms were crossed over his chest as he said, "Sit, we need to talk."

Her mind raced for an excuse. "I can't right now. Jacen and I made plans to hide from Ms. Planner. The longer I stay here, the harder it will be to lose her."

"Jacen can wait," Zekk said firmly. "You're going to tell me what the–"

"Sorry, can't, gotta go, bye!" she literally ran from the room at top speed and didn't stop until she was at least half way to the hangars. Jaina rested her hands on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath.

Just when she regained some semblance of control over her breathing, a voice that made her blood curdle shrieked through the air. "Miss Solo! I'm so glad I found you!"

Her head shot up and she turned around to see Ms. Planner. Jaina took off once more to hide.

----------

Jaina peered around her before leaping into the tree. She was on the run from the Wedding Planner of Doom. At least that's what she and Jacen called her. Zekk thought the lady was a little pushy but otherwise okay. But, then again, he didn't know to fear party planners. Tenel Ka had hired the lady when some of the plans had started to go off track. It was now two days away from the aforementioned wedding and the planner was striking terror into the Solo twins' hearts. Jaina shuddered and nearly fell out of the tree. She grabbed the trunk for balance and made a mental note to get back into the practice of climbing trees again. Honestly, the stupid wedding planner had reduced her, Jaina Solo, to hiding in trees.

Ms. Planner – that's what she told them to call her – wasn't evil in the least, just a little "over-enthusiastic" as Zekk put it. Jacen and Jaina, however, were convinced that she was sent by their mother to remind them of the old days. There was nothing they hated more than people who forced them to practice etiquette, trying on clothes, and have to use those diplomatic skills that had been instilled in them since they were toddlers.

"There you are, Miss Solo! Come on down! We must get you fitted for your dress!" Ms. Planner came running over to the tree and started shaking it. The wedding planner had frizzy black hair that was kept in an untidy bun and glasses she seemed to constantly misplace while they were on her head. Her clothes were wrinkled and there seemed to be a slight sense of disorganization around her which was the exact opposite of how she was. "Miss Solo, you really must come down. After all, we still haven't picked out the material for the fourth banquet dress!" Jaina hopped down and started to run away.

Ms. Planner chased after her in pursuit yelling, "Miss Solo, we haven't even gone over your hairstyles yet! Please stop!

Somehow Ms. Planner kept up with Jaina while wearing heels. This spawned another mental note for Jaina to start taking long runs in the morning to so she could be prepared to escape from crazed party planners. Jaina was about to run around the corner when an arm shot out and grabbed her around the middle. The arm pulled her to its owner's chest and held her fast. She was caught.

"Thank goodness for you, Mr. Zekk! You have no idea how much trouble it was to catch her!" Ms. Planner stopped in front of them, panting. There was something familiar about this situation.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Zekk said. Although Jaina couldn't see him, she could tell he was slightly amused by this.

"Yes, well, I need to take her to the tailor's rather quickly so we can pick out some more fabric and then –"

"I can take her," Zekk said. A strong sense of déjà vû swept over her. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she still couldn't figure out why this situation was familiar.

"Really? That'll be wonderful! That gives me time to hunt down the groom. I think I saw him near the refresher units last time I saw him…," Ms. Planner wondered off trying to find Jacen.

Once she was out of sight, Jaina sighed in relief and said, "Thanks for getting rid of her, Zekk." When she attempted to break free of Zekk's hold and make an escape, he tightened his grip. "Zekk, you can let go now, she's gone."

"No I can't, I'm taking you to the tailor's. You need to get things done," Zekk said. Suddenly, the glow panels in her head switched on. Oh Sith. It was like her dream.

"No! I can do it!" Jaina protested. She was near desperate to get away. Sure she didn't know what was going to happen, the stupid dream-vision thingy cut off before it could tell her more. "I'll go straight to the tailor's! If I don't then you have the permission to ground me from any form of machinery."

"No, I'll take you."

Jaina once again tried to escape and Zekk used drastic measures. Perhaps it was a bit unnecessary for her to try and fight her way out of his embrace, if you could call it that. So, here she was being carried down the hall, slung over Zekk's shoulder. She really hoped that no one would see them. That would be a bit embarrassing.

She glanced around the halls with a bored expression and attempted to sit up in surprise. "Zekk! This isn't the way to the tailors!"

"I know."

"Where are you taking me?"

He remained silent and then opened a door and dropped Jaina onto a chair. She looked around in interest. Cages full of animals lined the walls and there was a loud chirping noise and a ball of blue fluff landed on Jaina's shoulder. She stared at it before looking back at Zekk, then the ball of blue fluff, and finally back at Zekk again. "Jacen's private zoo?"

Zekk shrugged a bit, looking slightly embarrassed. "I couldn't think of anywhere else that we could be undisturbed." He sat down on a nearby table after making sure it was clear of animal waste. "You've been avoiding me."

Jaina didn't meet his gaze and focused on stroking Nicta's feathery body. "No, I haven't. We were eating breakfast together just yesterday."

"Jaina, you've avoided being in the same room alone with me. If I come in, you go out. Why?"

"No reason." She was fascinated by the delicate feathers that covered Nicta. They were really quite fascinating.

Zekk sighed and Jaina heard him moving off the table. His booted feet made a clicking noise as they approached her. The irrational part of her mind urged her to run, save herself from the humiliation. The sensible side of her said that it would be better to get things off her chest, and wouldn't it be embarrassing to suddenly run off without any explanation? In one of the few instances in her life, Jaina listened to her sensible side. He stopped moving and his hand was under her chin, gently turning her head to look at him. His eyes bore into hers as he asked, "Jaya, what's wrong? You can tell me."

She gave a half-hearted grin before saying, "I don't suppose I could use the wedding as an excuse?"

"Sorry, that's already taken by Jacen," Zekk said quietly.

There was a long silence in which Zekk patiently stared at Jaina, waiting for her to say something. To say the least, Jaina was nervous. So nervous that she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Chair!"

Zekk look startled and nearly jumped back. He stared at her in confusion and slight worry. "Jaina? Are you okay?"

Her face colored. "Umm… Yes, I'm fine, don't worry, I was just seeing if wanted to uhh… sit down?"

His brow went up at this and Zekk said, "I already am."

He stopped talking for a moment, as if he was thinking, then opened his mouth but was interrupted before he could even start. Jacen burst into the room and said, "Jaya, Planner of Doom is looking for you. I think it would be in your best interests to hurry to wherever you were supposed to be."

She hurried off, saying a quick good-bye to both men. Zekk scowled and fell into the chair that Jaina had previously occupied. He rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and rested his head on his fist. Jacen shuffled around and Zekk opened one eye to glare at him. His foot started to tap in annoyance as he waited for Jacen to remember that he was in the room. So far, Jacen was doing a good job ignoring him. Zekk moved out of his current position and changed to one where he was sitting stiffly against the back of the chair; his foot was still tapping to an unknown beat. Jacen still didn't notice Zekk was in the room. His fingers soon joined in on the tapping, Zekk's patience was running thin and Jacen's ignorance did not help matters in the least.

The scowl on Zekk's face deepened and he continued tapping to an unheard beat. Finally, he had enough. "Jacen! If you didn't notice, I'm still in the room!"

"When'd you come in? I didn't notice you," Jacen said with a surprised tone. Zekk knew that look. The slight tug at the corner of his mouth and small twinkle in his eyes indicated the exact opposite of what he had spoken. Mischief was not a thing Zekk had patience for at the moment, to be honest; he had little patience for anything.

"Jacen," Zekk said in a warning tone. He was in no mood for games.

"Whoa, calm down there," Jacen said, patting the air in front of him. "What's got you wound so tight?"

"Your sister," Zekk said as he relaxed in the chair.

"Ah, should've known," Jacen said.

"Yes, you should – wait a minute! What do you mean by that?" Zekk asked.

"Only Jaina can get you that worked up," Jacen said and then paused for a moment. "And that one time at that smashball game, but that was a totally different."

"It's Jaina's fault on both occasions," Zekk said.

"Actually, it was me who told the announcer to say that," Jacen muttered.

"What? That was you!" Zekk exclaimed.

"Umm…" Jacen gave a nervous grin and said, "That doesn't matter, though. Zekk, I'm going to give some advice when dealing with Jaina, seeing as I'm her twin, I know her pretty well." He took on false air of importance. "You see, something's bothering her, because Jaina had this same reaction when she accidentally broke my animal book chip when we were six. All you need to have is patience."

"I've been nothing but patient!" Zekk yelled.

"Exactly, which why you have to be even more patient. Jaina's never been one to talk about what's bothering her and that's gotten worse since the war; so just give her some time," Jacen said calmly. "To be honest, Jaina will now stress trying to act as normal as possible now that you've noticed something wrong with her." Jacen paused for a moment, an amused smile flitting across his face. "Just give her a bit more time, don't worry, everything will fall into place."

"Fine, fine," Zekk muttered. He stood up and walked out of the room raising a hand in farewell without looking back.

Jacen grinned to himself and then went back to preparing food for his animals.

----------

_(Wedding Day, before the ceremony)_

"Jaina! Jaina! Jaya, I need you!" She sprinted into the room her brother was waiting in, an amazing feat considering that she was wearing heels at the time. Jacen, Zekk, Lowie, Mystiran, Alaric, and a couple of Tenel Ka's male cousins were all gathered in the room. She squirmed as the corset she was forced to wear poked painfully into her side.

"What – is – it, - Jace," Jaina asked between pants.

"I can't get my tie straight and these people are all incompetent fools!" Jacen wailed. Many of the men voiced their protest as this statement, but were soon silenced by a glare from the nerve-wracked groom. In all honesty, Jacen had been in a panicked frenzy every since he had woken up.

Jaina sighed in exasperation – this was the fourth time she had ran in there for some mundane task – and pretended to fix the already straight tie. She gave him a reassuring smile and Jacen gave a relieved grin. "What would I do without you?"

"Have a panic attack and die?" Zekk offered as he walked up to them.

"Of course he would, that or he would starve to death because he forgot where the cafeteria was," Jaina said.

"That only happened ten times!" Jacen defended.

"What about that –" Jaina started.

"No, that was –" Jacen said.

"So you say, I –"

"Oh yeah? Well, -"

Jaina and Jacen slipped into their version of speaking with each other, a dialect which Zekk fondly called "Twinish". No one understood what they were saying to each other except themselves, which was rather useful when they wanted to talk about something alone. Right now though, it only served to confuse the rest of Jacen's groomsmen, seeing as barely any of them had spent a lot of time with the Solo twins alone. They spoke in Twinish for a few more moments before Jaina said some excuse to her brother that involved womp rats and gestured for Zekk to follow her out of the room.

He followed as she ordered and as soon as the door closed, Jaina said, "He's promised to tone down his nervous spasms if that will help any. I wanted to ask you to try and keep him de-stressed as much as possible."

"I'll do my best, but you know that convincing a Solo to do something against their will is like suicide," Zekk said with a small smile.

Jaina echoed his smile and lightly slapped his arm before giving him a quick hug and walking back to Tenel Ka's room. Zekk stared at Jaina's retreating back for a moment before going back into the room he had just came out of.

----------

It was time. He was going to get married in five point 6 standard seconds, he knew because he had been counting. Jacen shifted from foot to foot. Shouldn't they have started the ceremony already? Where were the multiple flower girls? Why weren't they walking down the aisle? Why did his bloody underwear choose this moment to ride up? As he shifted anxiously from foot to foot, Zekk leaned over and muttered, "Jacen, are you okay?"

"No! The ceremony was supposed to start eight seconds ago and I have the makings of a major wedgie!" Jacen hissed.

Zekk snorted quietly but wisely kept his mouth shut. Jacen was extremely irritable when he became nervous. He didn't say anything, not trusting himself enough to not burst into laughter. After a minute of trying not to burst into laughter at the uptight Jacen, the orchestra started playing. Four of Tenel Ka's younger female cousins (at least, Zekk thought they were cousins) came down the aisle throwing flower petals at the guests instead of the floor. Then the bridesmaids started down. First came many of Tenel Ka's most powerful cousins, then Tahiri, and finally Jaina as the maid of honor. Zekk's gaze immediately focused on Jaina and completely forgot there were other people in the room.

He had seen her in the dress before, but never when it was fully assembled. Her hair was pulled up into a bun – he preferred it down – and her dress was pale blue and rather flattering if you asked him. Jacen on the other hand was a bundle of nerves as he waited for the bridal march. He gave a nervous smile to Jaina, who gave him a reassuring nudge through the Force in an attempt to call him down.

Suddenly, the room seemed to fall away and his attention was gained by a white-clad woman that seemed to float down the aisle. Distantly, Jacen heard the bridal march sound but he didn't register its total meaning. Tenel Ka's face was fully covered by white veil but he saw rebellious strands of red-gold hair that had slipped out from under the veil. Her approach was agonizingly slow but swift at the same time. Before he knew it, Tenel Ka was standing across from him. Without thinking, Jacen reached out and grabbed her only hand and turned with her to face the priest.

The priest's voice was nearly drowned out due to the roaring sound in Jacen's ears. He repeated the priest's words mechanically, all the while staring at Tenel Ka. From faraway, he heard the priest ask, "Do you take Her Majesty, Queen Mother Tenel Ka Chume'Ta Djo, to be your wife?"

Jacen heard his voice respond. "I do."

The priest said some other words that Jacen didn't focus on; he was now staring at Tenel Ka again. He was once again removed from his trance by Tenel Ka firmly stating, "I do."

That was it. He was married. Jacen stood there for a moment before surprising everyone by letting out a loud whoop and kissing Tenel Ka. He pulled back and grinned at her. "Guess what, Tenel? We're married!" he shouted.

Everyone in the room chuckled and Jacen could hear Jaina telling Tahiri that she wasn't related to him anymore but he didn't care; he was too busy staring at his bride. Tenel Ka gave him one of her rare smiles and Jacen whooped again then hugged her.

-----------

(Reception)

"Good evenin' all you royal and elite people!" A Toydarian greeted as they walked into the room. "I'll be your DJ tonight and my name's…" he glanced at the name tag on his shirt, "Bob. For now, I'll be quiet and let you guys eat but after that, this party's getting started!"

He started to beat his wings and flew off to sit behind a counter. Jaina and Tahiri shared amused looks before sitting down, with Jaina on Tenel Ka's left and Tahiri to the left of Jaina and the other bridesmaids seated after her. Jacen sat to Tenel Ka's right with Zekk on his right, then Lowie, Mystiran, Alaric, etc., etc. Tenel Ka's chair was raised above everyone else's to show her status as the ruler of Hapes. Prince Isolder sat a different table with the Solos and the Skywalkers. His chair was designed differently than the others to signify his status. The reception room was one of the ballrooms and had been painted a light cream color with burgundy flowers on light-posts and burgundy drapes framing all the doorways. Members of Tenel Ka's family, Jedi, pilots, and some of her and Jacen's close friends littered the room, seated in various places. Ben had already escaped the children's table and was now seated next to Jaina.

After they ate – which took a while because Alaric and Mystiran took advantage of the free food factor – Zekk delivered the traditional speech given by the best man. Jacen clapped along with everyone else but soon became distracted by the music of a waltz drifting from the speakers. He immediately grabbed Tenel Ka's hand and tugged her towards the dance floor. The song finished and Bob the Toydarian DJ picked up the mike and started talking. "The last song, that you saw only the bride and groom dancing to, will be the first and last classical piece of the night." His wings flapped furiously as he shifted the records around. "This one is a personal favorite done by the Fab Four known as… The Grutchins(1)!"

_**She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah**_

_**She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah **_

**_She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah _**

_**You think you've lost your love, **_

_**Well I saw her yesterday. **_

_**It's you she's thinking of **_

**_And she told me what to say._**

_**She says she loves you**_

**_And you know that can't be bad._**

_**Yes, she loves you **_

_**And you know you should be glad.**_

Jacen spun Tenel Ka and made room as other dancers came onto the floor. He managed to catch Zekk's eye, then glanced at Jaina and gave him a pointed look as the verse was sang. Zekk raised a brow and gave him a disbelieving look. Jacen broke contact to concentrate on dancing. Still, he occasionally gave Zekk pointed looks, which only increased when the chorus started.

_**She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah **_

_**She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah **_

_**And with a love like that **_

_**You know you should be glad.**_

He was getting annoyed. Jacen kept staring at him and Jaina. It was almost as if he was implying something. Zekk always received the hardest looks when the words "she loves you" appeared in the song. He couldn't figure out what was going through Jacen's head for the life of him.

_**--Yes, she loves you**_

_**And you know you should be glad. Ooh!**_

_**She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah **_

_**She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah **_

There he went again. It was almost like Jacen was saying that Jaina – Zekk abruptly closed down that train of thought and stared at Jacen in shock.

_**With a love like that**_

_**You know you should be glad. **_

_**Yeah, yeah, yeah, **_

**_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!(2) _**

When the song ended, everyone politely clapped while Zekk continued to stare at Jacen. He wasn't aware that he was gaping like an idiot and he looked remarkably like a fish. That is, until Jaina walked towards him and said, "If you keep your mouth open for any longer a bug's going to fly in and choke you."

"Eh?" He turned to her and Jaina reached up to close his still gaping mouth. As soon as her hand touched his chin a shock ran through them and Zekk seemed to snap out of his dazed state and stare at her like a deer in the headlights.

"Zekk, are you okay?" Jaina asked with concern.

"Fine," he squeaked out. "Do – do you wanna dance?"

"Sure."

Both had missed the DJ's introduction of the song but a slow, longing tune came from the speakers.

_**I don't like you **_

_**But I love you **_

_**Seems that I'm always**_

_**Thinking of you**_

Zekk mentally groaned. Perhaps this was a bad song to dance to. It hit far too close to home for his liking. This night was looking rather dismal and painfully wonderful as he held Jaina close. He kept sneaking glances at her face, thinking about how strange she seemed to act around him lately.

_**I don't want you **_

_**But I need you **_

_**Don't wanna kiss you**_

_**But I need you **_

This song was officially trying to kill him. How unlucky could he get? Jaina was going to think he wanted to make out with her… Alright, so he did but he didn't want her to know that! Honestly, can't a guy dance with the love of his life to a song that just talks about banthas or X wings? Anything but love! The song was hitting too close to home for comfort.

_**I love you and all I want you to do **_

_**Is just hold me, hold me, hold me**_

He felt Jacen's eyes on the back of his head. Zekk was determined not to look at him. Jacen had been far too enlightening recently. He just wanted this whole thing to be over with so he could get on with his life. Then again, he wanted to stay right here with Jaina in his arms forever. He was mentally shocked at his thoughts. The blasted contradictory song was getting to him! Almost unconsciously Zekk pulled Jaina closer to him as his mind ran rampant with wanting to kill the DJ.

_**Oh, oh, oh I want to split now **_

_**I just can't quit now**_

_**You've really got a hold on me**_

_**(You've really got a hold on me)**_

_**You've really got a hold on me, baby**_

_**(You've really got a hold on me, baby)**_

**_I love you and I all I want you to do_**

**_Is just hold me (please), hold me (squeeze), hold me, hold me_**

_**You've really got a hold on me **_

_**You've really got a hold on me**_

The song faded with the "You've really got a hold on me"'s****echoing each other. Zekk didn't notice but he and Jaina had stopped moving and were now standing on the edge of the dance floor. He found himself transfixed by Jaina's eyes; the urge to kiss her grew stronger until he finally started to lean down and…

-----TBC-----

Hi, nice long chapter for you. Yay! And yes, the cliffie is supposed to be there, and yes I know that's reader abuse to end it there. Right, time for disclaimers!

(1) I'm borrowed the Grutchins, a spin-off of the Beatles, from my friend Vongchild for this chapter. So, not mine!

(2) **"She Loves You" – **sang by the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. © 1963 Northern Songs. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Not mine.

(3)** "You've Really Got A Hold On Me"** – this version is sang by the Beatles, written by Smokie Robinson. © 1962, 1963 Jobete Music Company Incorporated, USA. Dominion Music Limited, 127 Charing Cross Road, London WC2. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.


	15. Scheme

Guess what? This is my Christmas present from me to you. Happy belated holiday stuff!

A: She owns nothing.

M: Except for us. Anyone want –

A: - To buy us?

Chapter Fifteen: Scheme

Last evil sentence:

_He found himself transfixed by Jaina's eyes; the urge to kiss her grew stronger until he finally started to lean down and…_

- was interrupted by someone exclaiming, "Jaina Solo! Aren't you going to give your father a hello?"

Zekk jumped and turned to Han Solo with a startled look. How long had been standing on the edge of the dance floor watching them? Jaina instantly left his arms and made her way to Han. Slowly, Zekk followed but had to pause as a flurry of dancers swirled past him. He bitback a disappointed groan as he watched Jaina hug her father and kiss his cheek. He had a pretty good idea of what would have happened if Han hadn't interrupted them, and Zekk was rightly miffed about it.

Suddenly, a little voice in the back of his head interrupted his sulking. _How do you know you were about to kiss?_

_Our faces were barely inches apart. I'm pretty sure that means we were about to kiss,_ Zekk responded to the voice.

_Wishful thinking,_ the voice sneered. _Have you forgotten how she's been avoiding you recently?_

_She's nearly stopped!_ Zekk hissed back. He was becoming increasingly agitated with this little voice in his head.

_Jaina still hasn't been fully relaxed around you, though, has she?_ It asked.

Zekk couldn't respond and instead, hated the fact that he knew the voice was right. He muttered curses under his breath but jumped when he felt Jaina's hand on his arm. She looked at him concernedly and asked, "Zekk, are you all right? You were muttering something about voices. You're not talking to the people in your head again, are you?" Jaina smirked up at him. She patted him on the elbow condescendingly – his shoulder was too high for her to reach. "You know those people aren't real, just signs of the madness within your brain."

"People in my head? Jaina, are you having those imaginary conversations with yourself, _again_? I knew I should've made you take your medication," Zekk said, sighing in fake exasperation.

She laughed and swatted him. Zekk caught her hand and tugged her closer to him. His arm snaked around her shoulders as he got her into a firm headlock. Jaina protested loudly, claiming that it had taken her forever to get her hair up. Zekk laughed – he knew it had barely taken her twelve minutes – and noogied her. She managed to poke Zekk in his side – the only place he was really ticklish – and broke free while laughing hard. Both were oblivious to the scene they were making and the fact that they were being watched - and recorded.

-----------

"Doesn't she know how long it took to get her dress to fall just right?" Kionne asked Marin. The teenage girls were hidden behind a plant near the alcove where the two Jedi were giving into their more childish sides. Kionne continued to fret. "And her hair! I had to redo it when she came into the room. How could Master Zekk even consider messing it up after all the effort that I put into it?"

"At least Jaina isn't avoiding him as much," Marin offered. She absently straightened her cat-eared headband as it attempted to fall off her head. "So how are we going to get them to admit anything to each other?"

Kionne flopped into a nearby chair. She sighed then said, "I don't know. Maybe we should try locking them into a closet together? That might work."

Marin chewed her lower lip, seriously considering the idea. Jacen had said they had done all they could and now it was up to Jaina and Zekk. Both girls knew their masters and frankly thought Jacen was wrong. So, they continued on with their matchmaking plots. Jaina and Zekk had left their half-hidden alcove and temporarily separated ways - Zekk to go check out the snacks and talk to Alaric and Mystiran and Jaina to go say hi to acquaintances.

"That might be a good idea, but when? They need to go to the next seven parties since they were in the wedding party."

"Umm… we could do it after the seventh party. That's five days before Master Jacen and Master Tenel Ka leave for their honeymoon and the day before we leave," Kionne suggested.

"Mrow, that's excellent! Master Zekk will be bored with all the social functions and will want to train!"

"Master Jaina's the same."

The two continued to fill out all the hard points in their plan.

----------

Jacen collapsed onto the couch as soon as he walked through the door. He beamed up at Tenel Ka from his prostrate position. She gave him a small smile of her own before gently laying herself across him. He tucked her head underneath his chin and smiled into her hair. At this moment he doubted there to be a happier man than him. They created an almost picturesque scene. Tenel Ka's red hair was released from its stylized confines and now spread out over his right. Both were still clad in their wedding finery but neither cared. Jacen's left arm was wrapped tightly around her waist with her single arm draped over his stomach.

Slightly unwelcome thoughts of his sister ran through his brain. Jaina seemed, for the most part, to have overcome whatever had spooked her from before. She and Zekk had nearly kissed, too. Pity that his dad had chosen that moment to intervene; it would've saved him twelve credits. His suddenly did a complete 180 as soon as Tenel Ka leaned up to kiss him. Jacen's mind cleared of all thoughts of his sister and everything else, in general.

"Are you happy, Prince Consort?" Tenel Ka asked when she pulled away.

"Can't recall a time I've been happier," Jacen responded, grinning like an idiot.

"It's a pity that friend Jaina and friend Zekk cannot come to their senses," Tenel Ka commented.

"Who?" Jacen asked before leaning down and kissing her again.

---------

"Hey, Al, where are you going?" Mystiran asked as his twin brother suddenly turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction.

"I think I left my datapad in the ballroom. I'll be right back," Alaric said as he hurried down the hall.

Tahiri watched her brother-in-law half-jog away before turning to her husband. She slapped his arm and waited until Mystiran's exclamation of pain and protests died down, then said, "Go after him!"

"What? You slapped me for that?" Mystiran asked. "He's just going to get his datapad; I think he can do that alone."

She slapped him in the arm again. "He could get lost. This place is too big for an absent-minded man like him."

"Al's a big a boy," Mystiran said. "He doesn't need an escort."

"Mystiran Ermenegildo Kenys!" Tahiri stood in front of him, her arms akimbo. "You go after your brother right now! I will not have him go missing in this maze of a palace!"

Mystiran flinched then nodded. "Fine, I'll go!"

He turned and went after his brother, muttering about wives sounding like mothers and evil middle names. Once he was out of his wife's sight, Mystiran gently reached out with the Force to find his brother. Alaric was in a room that was most definitely not the ballroom -in fact, it was an empty office. Now that Mystiran thought about it, Alaric hadn't even brought anything remotely technological into the ballroom. Tahiri had personally made sure of that. Expanding his Force senses a bit more, Mystiran discovered that Alaric was not alone. Marin and Kionne were in the room with him. His "Al's-doing-something-stupid-without-me" sense rang through his mind.

Determined to break up or join in whatever trouble Alaric was going to cause, Mystiran walked to the door only to find it locked. He waved a hand over it and growled in frustration when the red light remained on. Finally, he gave up doing things the pretty way and broke the locking mechanism with the Force. The door slid open with another wave of his hand.

Marin and Kionne jumped when the door opened but Alaric only waved at him before returning to the datapad he was looking over. Alaric's face was blank as he changed something on the 'pad. Mystiran knew that face, it was one of the reasons they had always been into so much trouble back at the Jedi Academy. It was the reason that they had been put under Jaina's command and worked to death. A little voice in the back of his brain protested as he sat down across from his brother and asked, "So, what are you doing this time and how can I be of service?"

"Umm… Master Kenys?" Kionne asked. Both men looked over at her. "Master Mystiran, what– how did you -"

"Know?" Mystiran smirked. "Kid, I've been scheming with Al for years, I know when he's up to something."

"And Tahiri most likely forced him to come after me in fear of my getting lost," Alaric stated, not wavering from his task in the slightest.

Mystiran discreetly kicked Al in the shin. As his brother remained annoyingly unfazed, Mystiran turned to the girls and said firmly, "You two should be more careful. Had I been an enemy, I would have been able to kill you both. You must be on guard at all times. It seems that Al was the only one alert to my presence–"

"Which has nothing to do with the fact that we're twins," Alaric interjected.

"- and that's not always going to happen," Mystiran finished as if he had never been interrupted. He waved the door closed before continuing. "Now, back to business; what are you three up too?"

Kionne and Marin exchanged looks and tried to look innocent. Both started to protest, but Alaric cut them off.

"They're playing matchmaker with the Goddess and Zekk," Alaric answered. "Their plan is to lock both of them in the closet."

"Really? Hmm… that's going to take some work. Have you decided where? It has to be busy enough so Great One and Zekk's Force signatures can mix with others but empty at some point for them to be shoved in." At that point, Mystiran invited himself into trouble and started to brainstorm with his brother. The two apprentices remained in bewildered silence for quite sometime until Mystiran and Alaric looked up at them and asked, "Are you going to help or not?"

From that point on, the two Knights and two apprentices fleshed out and completed the plan.

----------

Jaina glanced at what could be seen of Zekk. She had woken early in the morning and was unable to fall asleep. She had turned on the lights without thinking and Zekk's automatic response was to pull the covers over his head. He remained thankfully unaware that she was having a bout of insomnia, with him being the main cause.

She had to tell him something, and soon. Or else she would go mad. She was torn between wanting to wake him then and there and waiting until morning. After watching him sleep for a few more moments, Jaina decided that if she couldn't sleep, he wasn't going to sleep.

With a small wave of her hand, the lights in the room grew brighter. She tugged the blankets away from his face. Zekk frowned, closing his eyes even tighter. He pulled his pillow over his head. Jaina muttered a curse then poked him hard in the shoulder. Zekk grunted and Jaina repeated the motion two more times. On her fourth attempt, Zekk's hand shot up from the pillow and grabbed her finger.

Zekk's muffled voice filtered out from under the pillow. "Wha' the Sith d'you want?"

"I want to talk."

"Wait till mornin'," Zekk ordered.

The lights suddenly went out in the room. Jaina suddenly felt a mind pressing against hers, willing her to sleep. She shoved back at Zekk's mind, and turned the lights to their brightest setting. Zekk fought back, shutting off the lights once more and gently coaxing her to sleep. Jaina turned on the lights and yanked the covers off with the Force.

The door to the refresher unit slid open and a glob of water floated into the room. She sprang from the bed just as the water fell on Zekk. His reaction was instant. The man jumped up and promptly fell backwards out of the bed.

He slowly stood grimacing as his wet shirt stuck to back. Zekk scowled at a laughing Jaina and crossed his arms. "What, exactly, was that for?"

Jaina chuckled a bit more before she replied, "I said that I wanted to talk, didn't I?"

"And I said to wait until morning," Zekk snapped. His scowl deepened when she laughed again.

"It is morning though, see for yourself," she said, pointing to the chronometer.

He glanced at it. The time read 5:18 in the morning. He fought the urge to roll his eyes and glared at her. "You know what I meant."

"Yes, I'm afraid I did. But I do need to talk to you."

"And it couldn't wait?"

"'Fraid not."

He sighed and walked over to the dresser. He pulled off the wet shirt and replaced it with a dry one. Jaina nearly had to slap herself to stop staring. Then, Zekk approached the bed and moved over to Jaina's much dryer side and perched on the corner. He was looking at her expectantly, his eyes roughly at the same height as hers.

"Well…," Jaina started hesitantly, not knowing where to begin. She paused in thought for a moment before saying, "D'you know that dream I had a few weeks back, the one that… err… made me freak out?"

He nodded. 

"The dream it was about… It had…," Jaina stuttered. Her gaze was fixed at a spot on the floor when she murmured, "We were married and had kids."

"What?" Zekk asked. "Could you repeat that? You were muttering."

Jaina swung her gaze back up to him. He had to be kidding! It was hard enough just to say it at that volume level. Biting back a groan, Jaina repeated her statement. The slight widening of Zekk's eyes and his raised brow made her look away. Then he laughed. Surprised, Jaina stared at him.

"Is that all?" Zekk asked with an incredulous tone.

"No, not exactly," Jaina said. "There were other similar dreams over the weeks."

"But that's all?" Zekk asked. He had stopped laughing and stood. She nodded and was suddenly struck with how much taller he was than her. He pulled her into a hug and chuckled once more. "You're silly. Getting upset over nothing more than a dream. Honestly, Jay, I thought you were more mature than that."

Jaina laughed and tugged back slightly to give him a grateful smile. Zekk laughed once more and ruffled her hair.

"Go take a shower," he ordered. "You're starting to smell funny."

She gave an outraged laugh and he easily ducked her hand as she made her way across the room to the refresher unit. As he watched the door close, Zekk couldn't help but wish that the dreams were real.

----------

Han Solo frowned at the holoscreen. He was watching the news and suddenly, his mental "A-Male-Is-Touching-My-Daughter-Without-My-Permission" alarm went off. His mind instantly went back to the memory of his daughter and that boy who used to hang around his house all the time.

They had been dancing, far too close for Han's liking. The song playing made Han want to kill someone. What was that boy implying? That he wanted to make out with his daughter? (1) He remembered reaching down for his blaster, and only realized that he had left it in his state room when he felt air. Han had been about to greet them – anything to get her daughter away from him (and any males in general) – when they stopped dancing. He frowned in puzzlement and waited to see what they were doing. The song was drawing to a close as the boy and Jaina's faces got to close for Han's comfort. So, he did the one thing he could think of – summon Jaina over away from that boy.

Not to say that Han didn't like Boy-Whose-Name-He-Forgot, he was a pretty good kid from what he remembered. So long as he was far away from his daughter. Suddenly, a voice that sounded remarkably like Lando went through his head.

_You know, she is fully grown. She can handle herself around boys. _

Han stiffened. How dare that voice! **_No she can't! Boys are bad. Very bad. Very, very bad._**

_You sound like a broken holo-record. Jaina's grown up now. She doesn't need you to watch out for her every single second of the day. _

_**Yes, she does. Jaina's my baby girl. If I say that she's not old enough for boys, then she's not old enough. **_

_How old were you when you started to take an interest in girls? _

_**Not the point! That's totally different! ** _

_How? Aside from the fact that Jaina's female and you're male?_

_**She's my daughter! I can't- **_

_You can't what? Let her go? Come now, she's a fully grown woman. A pretty one at that. _

_**Watch it, buddy. Just because you're in my subconscious doesn't mean I can't do serious damage to you.**_

_Don't change the subject. Now, are you willing to let go? She _is _old enough to not need you to get her alcohol at bars._

… **_How did you know about that? Nevermind, it doesn't matter. What _does_ matter is the fact that she's falling for someone and I don't- _**

"Han, stop talking to the voices in your head!"

Han jerked out of his internal conversation to stare at his left. He replied intelligently with, "Huh?"

"You had that look on your face that you get when you're arguing with yourself. That and you were muttering something about a stupid voice and a girl being five." Leia gave him an appraising look. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," he said quickly and turned back to the holoscreen.

-----TBC-----

Yes, it's short and I'm sorry for that! On the other hand, though, things are thickening up a bit, no? And this chapter had plot! Yay! ****

1. That part with Han and the music is reference to where Zekk thought in the last chapter: "Jaina was going to think he wanted to make out with her…".


	16. According to Plan

Ooh! Another chapter! Sadly, I think there's only going to be maybe one or two more. Scary, no? But, that Good Ol' Days can make its debut. Yayness! Alright, enough of the bloody author's note. This chapter is dedicated to one of my best friends. She turned sixteen on Feb. 7th. Happy Birthday!

M: Jedi Bubbles would like to remind everyone that she owns nothing.

A: Except for us. Please buy us! We'll do anything! Anything!

Chapter Sixteen: According to Plan (a.k.a. Revenge of the Codenames)

Kionne frowned at the servant. He kept bowing and speaking in Hapan. She honestly had no idea what he was saying. Apparently Marin did though. She was nodding at him, saying "Ah!" and "Right" at different intervals. Although, but now that she thought about it, Marin was most likely just pretending to know what he was saying.

"Gotcha! Kionne, apparently this hallway is only used during the day and on the day we planned to do you-know-what to you-know-them the hallway will be empty as the Royal family has given most of the servants a holiday in celebration of the wedding," Marin said. She absently chewed on a strand of blonde hair before adding, "Or he could have been talking about which cheeses would be best at dinner."

Kionne stared blankly at the pair as the man babbled something in Hapan again accompanied by many ridiculous low bows. Marin nodded and said, "Correction, now he was talking about the cheese. He says the blue cheese is quite good. But I beg to differ. And to be honest, I don't really like cheese." Her nose wrinkled at that statement. "After all, it's mold! Who'd wanna eat that?"

They thanked the servant and went on their way. As they rounded the corner, Kionne asked, "How in the world do you know Hapan?"

"I took it for a few years on Kegan and a bit more at the Jedi Academy," Marin answered. She glanced at her chrono and squealed, causing Kionne to jump. It took Kionne a few minutes to calm Marin down and ask what was wrong. Marin pouted and said, "I've missed Inuyasha!"

Kionne fought the strong urge to roll her eyes as Marin continued to fret over her missed show. Kionne grabbed her near hysterical friend and somehow managed to drag her all the way to Mystiran Kenys's room. After a brief knock, both entered with Kionne still pulling Marin in by the sleeve.

Mystiran Kenys was working on a holo terminal when they came in and turned in his chair to shoot them a grin. "Take a seat," he said, waving his hand across the room before returning to his work. "I'll only be a minute."

At the same time, Kionne and Marin simultaneously raised an eyebrow. "Taking a seat" would be rather difficult. Almost every surface was occupied by some object. Every now and then, it seemed as if someone had made the effort to clean but gave up in the middle of the job. The Kenys twin pressed a key with a flourish and then turned in his seat to grin at them.

"Sorry, but we'll have to go to Al's room. Tahiri's napping at the moment and I don't want to wake her," Mystiran explained.

"S'okay, Master Kenys, we don't mind," Marin said cheerfully. She seemed to have gotten over her distress at missing Inuyasha. "As long as we're done before FMA comes on."

A puzzled look crossed Mystiran's face and hegave a shrug that said "whatever". The trio exited the elder Kenys twin's quarters and swiftly made their way to Alaric's room. Mystiran entered the room first without bothering to knock. Marin and Kionne hesitated for a moment before they followed him in.

Alaric was seated at a holo terminal just as his brother had been, but he didn't move his eyes from the screen. Instead, he waved his left hand – the right one still typing furiously, picking up the slack in the absence of its partner – to gesture vaguely at some chairs spread around. In sharp contrast to Mystiran's room, Alaric's was a neat-freak's heaven. Datapads and flimsies were stacked in tidy piles with no articles of clothing strewn haphazardly around the room.

Kionne's eyebrow went up again while Marin blinked in shock. Mystiran observed their expressions with a light grin as they gazed around the room. "Surprising, is it not?" he asked. "Al seems more like the slob of the family than me."

"I've never seen anything so clean," Marin wondered. "How does he do it? He ate moldy steak and yet he lives in a spotless environment."

"Al doesn't care what he eats so long as it's edible," Mystiran said. Alaric grunted in protest, still working on… whatever he was doing. Mystiran laughed. "Sorry, I meant that Alaric eats anything edible so long as it's not wakku nuts."

Alaric gave an affirmative grunt from where he sat. He finished whatever he was doing with a flourish – unknowingly mimicking his brother – and spun around in his seat to face them. The smile on his face was identical to Mystiran's. Suddenly, both girls were very thankful that Al had his shirt partially un-tucked, hair un-combed, and forgot to shave. Otherwise they would have had a very difficult time telling the twins apart. Apparently both shared the same taste in clothing for their outfits were identical.

"So, what's up?" Alaric asked the girls.

"We talked to a servant," Marin started, "and found out the time that would be perfect."

"It's about three hours after the actual party is going to start," Kionne added.

"Good, now for the hard part," Mystiran cut in. He pulled out a datapad from his back pocket. "I brainstormed some ideas we can use to lure Goddess and Merc Man into the room. The first one involves lighter fluid, so we'll save that as a last resort. Now here's one that involves Merc Man –"

"Who's Merc Man?" Marin asked.

Mystiran gave her a "you've got to be kidding me" look. Marin responded with a look that said "not kidding". "Merc Man is your master."

"Why?"

"Because he used to be a bounty hunter," Alaric supplied. He was absently spinning in his chair, occasionally stopping to let the faint green tinge vanish from his face before starting again.

"Why do we have codenames for everyone?" This time Kionne asked the question.

At this query, both Mystiran and Alaric stopped dead and stared at her in dumbfounded shock. For several moments, no one moved or said anything. Then Marin sneezed. She gave a sheepish smile, but Mystiran and Alaric remained frozen. Finally, Alaric worked up enough energy to respond. "There has to be codenames. Codenames are our friends. Codenames are good. Everyone needs a codename. I even mentally give people codenames."

"If there aren't codenames, then our prey would know who we're talking about," Mystiran supplied more efficiently although he had been nodding in agreement the whole time his brother gave the explanation.

"But wouldn't they already know? The codenames are so obvious," Kionne said.

This time the silence that stretched over them was thoughtful. Alaric and Mystiran seemed to be truly attempting to think about this. It ended with them both nodding in simultaneous agreement, then saying, "You're right, we should work on those."

"Great, but maybe you should finish listing off the reasons first?" Kionne suggested.

"Alright," Mystiran consented. "As I was saying before, Zekk could be led off under the pretext of some technical problem. Same with Jaina. Number two: We could drug their food and drag them there, number three: you two ickle apprentices can lure your respective master to the room, and number four – which is a personal favorite: we just walk up to them and ask them to come with us. Then we tell them straight forward what they are doing in that room and then we lock it after checking to make sure they have no devices that can be used to aid their escape."

"How would they get the tech in the banquet hall? Those security guards are good!" Alaric exclaimed. "They found every single datapad and game system I had on me!" He scowled slightly. "They even took my comlink."

"That's true, it also wouldn't be practical for them to bring anything," Mystiran said. He was about to say something else but the buzzing of his comlink cut him off. He lifted the device and flicked it on. "Hello?"

An angry female voice filtered through and Mystiran hurriedly turned the volume down so the others couldn't hear. "Yes, dear. Right away. Yes, I'll ask him, bye."

He flicked it off and faced the others. "Meeting adjourned, my wife wants me back. Apparently, she's bored and wants me to massage her feet." He shuddered. "Also, Al, Tahiri's wondering if you have any grik onion-flavored hubba crisps. She's hungry."

"I think I do," Alaric said. His brow furrowed in confusion a moment later. "But I thought Tahiri didn't like grik onion."

Mystiran shrugged nonchalantly. "She's developed a taste for them."

Alaric nodded, still looking slightly confused but rose to get the chips anyway. He foraged in his closet for a moment before handing the snack food to his twin. "Did she want anything else?"

"Yeah, after you get dressed for the banquet tonight, you need to come to our room for inspection. Please remember to shave this time. I don't wanna miss the hors d'oeuvres, again." Mystiran strode out of the room, muttering to himself and shaking his head. "I swear, she's becoming more like Mom every day."

Marin and Kionne said farewell to Alaric and each other then departed for their rooms.

----------

Just one more day. One more day before they would shut Jaina and Zekk in a closet until they came to their senses. Alaric did a small dance in his corner of the ballroom, earning himself several odd glances. He was half-hidden behind an ornamental tree, avoiding all forms of match-making mothers and young ladies eager for dances. They scared him - no, that wasn't right. They downright terrified him. It was much safer for him to just play with his "contraband" hand-held game.

Sadly, his heaven was interrupted by the clearing of a voice. He ignored it, hoping the person would leave him alone. It worked until Mega Wampa Bashers 6 was wrenched from his hand. Sighing quietly, he looked up at the disturber of the peace.

It was a black-haired, dark-eyed woman, Hapan, judging by her looks. He sighed again and waited for her to get it over with. She smirked once she realized that she now had his attention and then said, "Howdy. What's a good-looking man like you doing in this corner?"

_Definitely Hapan,_ he thought, noticing her strong accent as she spoke in Basic. She was too flirty, he decided a moment later as he looked at her coy smile and lingering glance.

"I was playing Mega Wampa Bashers 6," he replied, looking longingly at the game she held.

The woman noticed his gaze and smirked. She waved the video game in front of his face and watched as Alaric's eyes followed the device. Her smirk grew. "Do you want this back?" she asked, her voice deceptively sweet.

At Alaric's eager nod, her smirk widened. "I'll give this back if you dance one dance with me."

He mentally weighed the game's worth. Sit in a corner and look like a lump, or dance with a pretty girl and spend the rest of the evening relatively undisturbed with his electronics. Just as he was about to refuse – the game wasn't worth that much – his sister-in-law's voice drifted into his head.

"_Al, if you dance just once tonight, I'll give you back all those games I took from you…"_

He could tell that his eager nod threw her for a loop thanks to the Force. She was flabbergasted for all of two seconds, and then sheregained hercomposure. She placed the game on a nearby table and looped her arm through his left arm. He was half-dragged all the way to the dance floor.

The floor was crowded with many other beings, DJ Bob once again in charge of music. The band changed songs just as he was pulled onto the floor, changing from a slow waltz to a fast song. His mind vaguely tried to identify the band and song but he gave up and concentrated on dancing.

His partner was determined to try and lead. Alaric allowed her to pick which direction they were going in but made her stay in time with the music. She made him stay in an area near a group of woman who stared jealously at her. He figured they were her friends.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alaric caught sight of his brother and Tahiri. She was giving him an approving nod and smile. Mystiran was jerking his head to the left, barely noticeable at first but it soon grew violent. Finally, Alaric figured out that his brother wanted him to look in that direction.

His eyes strayed over – spun his partner around so he could get a better view. Nothing of importance was over there. He mentally went over the possible things his brother could want him to see.

_Let's see, there's Kionne and some guy, a half-eaten sandwich, Jaina and Zekk talking, a – Wait a minute! What's a Hutt doing here?_ His brow furrowed and he glanced at Mystiran then back to the Hutt.

_Why'd you want me to look at a Hutt?_, Alaric asked his brother through their twin bond.

He felt Mystiran mentally hit himself on the head. _Not the Hutt, scrag-for-brains. **Jaina and Zekk**! Go and listen to whatthey're talking about! _

_How?_

_You're on the dance floor. Twirl your way over there and listen in. _

_Why can't you do it?_

_Tahiri doesn't feel like dancing. Someone stepped on her foot. _

_She needs to start wearing shoes. _

_**You** tell her that and see how she takes it. But first, go and listen before they stop talking. _

Alaric held back a resigned sigh as the songs changed. When the woman started to pull away, Alaric bowed and gallantly kissed her hand. "May I have another dance?" he asked charmingly, trying not to feel like he was going to the execution block.

The woman blushed and was momentarily speechless at his sudden attitude change. His smile was charming and he repeated his question. Dumbly, she nodded. Alaric's smile grew (he felt like grimacing) and tugged her back to him when a new song started.

"I'm Captain Alaric Kenys," he said in an attempt to distract her enough to let him lead the way.

"I'm Nashare Galcos, fifth cousin to the Queen Mother," she said with obvious pride.

Alaric made a noise of awe and appreciation as it was obviously what Nashare was looking for. "Are you close to Her Majesty?"

Nashare then went on to tell a bunch of fabrications about how they were "the best of friends" and "closest confidences". He tuned her out, using the skills he picked up when having to listen to his sister. He knew exactly when to nod, make a noise of outrage/appreciation/awe, and say things like, "Really? No way!".

His concentration was devoted to enhancing his hearing with the Force. Concentration was the key here. He had to drown the other people out and focus on Jaina and Zekk. It was harder than he remembered. Maybe he should practice his Force skills a bit more.

Scanning the nearby conversations proved more difficult than he had thought. There were so many different voice patterns and some sounded like Jaina and others Zekk. At one point he could've sworn he heard his mother's voice.

"I love your dress!" came a female squeal. Alaric gave an almost imperceptible wince.

"My feet are killing me," said another voice. _Nope, not them._

"And I was like 'no way' and he was all 'yeah', and I was –" _Definitely not. _

"Jay, stop fidgeting. It's annoying." _Nope. Next voice._

"- And then this skip came out fro- " _Wait a nanosecond! That was them!_

Alaric quickly tuned into the conversation he had just cut out.

"Stop laughing, Zekk, it's not funny. You try wearing a corset!" Zekk kept laughing and Alaric turned just in time to see Jaina stomp her foot on the ground in indignation. Her hands were on her hips and she was scowling furiously at Zekk. "Oh that's it! When we get back, I'm making you wear a corset and see how you like it."

Zekk was gasping for breath when he was finished and started to wipe his tears away. He fought valiantly to keep the grin off his face as he stared at his disgruntled friend, but hecouldn't keep a straight face for more than three seconds. As he erupted into another bout of mirth, Jaina stomped her foot again and turned away from him.

"Fine! If you aren't going to stop, I'll just go find someone else to talk to. I'm sure that Hapan tactician won't mind my company."

She made to walk to away but Zekk grabbed her arm before she could get far. It took a great feat of control for his laughter to subside, Jaina's un-amused face glaring at him the whole time. Once his mirth had subsided, Zekk let go of her. Upon seeing her expression, Zekk sighed and said in a semi-pleading voice, "C'mon, Jay, don't be that way. It was funny."

"Was not," Jaina deadpanned.

Zekk let out an exasperated sigh. "All right, if it makes you feel better, I'm sorry."

"Are not."

"You're being difficult."

At that moment the song ended and Alaric quickly stopped listening. Nashare pouted, thinking it to be the end of her "quality time" with him. Inwardly, he gave a defeated sigh. The things he did to complete assignments. Once more, Alaric turned on the charm.

"Milady, I find myself reluctant to part from your excellent company. Will you do me the honor of another?" Good grief, he was going to strangle himself soon if he had to keep spouting that out.

Nashare giggled and nodded. Alaric forced a grin on his face but this time it came off as more of a grimace. When could he return to playing Mega Wampa Bashers 6? Luckily, she didn't notice.

Just when a slow song was about to start, he heard his name called. His brother was jumping up and down at the edge of the dance floor attempting to gain his attention. Alaric's grin turned genuine as he rushed away. "Sorry, gotta go. Family emergency. Had a nice time, hope you never blackmail me again."

He rushed off towards his brother (savior from dancing), leaving a dumbfounded Hapan woman on the dance floor. As soon as he reached the edge of the floor, Alaric glomped Mystiran around the waist. He said multiple, lightspeed fast "thank you"'s. Mystiran pried Alaric's arms off of him and rolled his eyes.

"You're ridiculous," he stated. After casting a wary glance about the room, he whispered, "Al, grab your game and go. Short One and Tall One have flown the coop."

"Eh?" Alaric asked, still too relieved to be off the dance floor. "Who are they?"

Mystiran scowled at Alaric. "Jaina and Zekk."

"Those are really crappy codenames."

"Shut up, like you could do better."

"As a matter of fact I could."

"Prove it."

"Raccoon Girl and Rooster hair."

"What?"

"It was something Marin said. From something – Umm… Spumoni Kenshin(1)?"

"… You're kidding me right."

"No! Let's see you do better than that."

"X-wing and Skip?"

"Weak. What about Chocolate crackers and Nachos."

"No way! Mission Solo and Jedi Boy?"

"Major Sticks and Captain Bubble-man."

This went on for quite sometime. Neither brother noticed the continued blinking of Mystiran's comlink.

------TBC------

Yes, that last part was odd. Oops. Also, that was a mean cliffie. My apologies. Oh, and the Raccoon Girl and Rooster hair thing came from Rurouni Kenshin. Raccoon Girl is Kamiya Kaoru and Rooster hair is Sazara Sanoske. Go Ruro-Ken!


	17. The Closet

Hey, everyone! Sorry about the wait. My inherent laziness and school got a hold on me. That and my original story wanted to monopolize my time. I think there's only going to be one more chapter. It's ending!

Disclaimer: I only own the OCs. George Lucas wants the rest. Think he'd trade Zekk for Al and 'Ran?

A&M: Hey! We're worth more than one character!

1. Zekk's codename is a reference to his height; I'm not saying that he's hairy.

2. In _Crystal Star_, Jaina and Jacen were running around manipulating energy like crazy. I figured it'd be nice to put that in.

-----------

Chapter Seventeen: The Closet

Marin was walking down the hall, watching her master and Jaina from across the garden. Keeping an eye on them was becoming harder and harder; Full Metal Alchemist would be on soon and she wanted them to hurry up and get to their room. She glanced back to where Jaina and Zekk had been and was surprised to find they had disappeared. The Force tingled a split second warning and Marin leapt back into the shadows just as Zekk came walking around the corner with Jaina on his heels. Jaina's face was red and she seemed to be straining slightly to keep up with Zekk's longer legs.

Zekk's eyes flickered around as if he was searching for something. He stopped suddenly making Jaina crash headlong into his back. The brunette fell to the floor and gave an indignant grunt. Zekk turned and blinked as if he just noticed Jaina there before chuckling. She glared at him then held up her hands for him to help her up. He did so, still laughing.

Jaina gave a haughty sniff and brushed herself off. She shot a glare at Zekk and said sweetly, "You know you're a jerk, right?"

"Oh, definitely, I haven't quite reached your level yet," Zekk responded, grinning down at her.

Jaina smiled and laughed. "Touché. What got you so riled up before? You hurried away as if you had been shot in the bum."

"'Hurried away'? I wasn't hurrying, kriff, that wasn't even fast," Zekk said. He glanced around them again before looking at Jaina. "What? Couldn't you keep up?"

"I'd like to see you run wearing a corset," Jaina snapped. She paused for a moment. "Actually, I'd like to see you a corset period. Then you'll see they're no cake walk. But, seriously, what was up?"

He shrugged. "I thought I felt Marin watching us. I wanted to know why. She disappeared before I could pinpoint her accurately."

Marin felt a surge of pride. She had practiced hiding in the Force. It was good to know that she could do it well enough that Zekk couldn't sense her. She moved fartherback into the shadows just in case. It wouldn't do to be caught now. That could lead to some uncomfortable questions. Her eyes widened when she saw Jaina and Zekk turn down the hall where _the_ closet was. The closet where – in one more day – she, Kionne, and the Kenys twins would lock Jaina and Zekk in.

_I need to com Mystiran_, Marin thought. She moved away, still keeping them in sight, but out of earshot. She pressed the code, feeling thankful that her master always insisted on keeping the keys in silent mode. Her breath hitched in anticipation… only to get his comlink's answering machine. Marin fought the urge to curse. Why wasn't he answering? This could be an opening to throw their plan into action ahead of time.

A curse did escape her when at the last second, the pair of Jedi headed back into the gardens. There went a golden opportunity. Grumbling to herself, she set off back to the ballroom to yell at Mystiran. Maybe she could get Tahiri to help.

----------

Mystiran and Alaric were doing something very… odd when she located them in the ballroom. It looked they were arguing. Tahiri and Kionne stood off to the side, both looking like they didn't know whether to laugh or hide under a table in shame. As she came closer, Marin realized that Alaric and Mystiran were saying the most bizarre names back and forth. Her brow furrowed and she moved to stand next to Kionne.

"What's going on?" Marin whispered to Kionne.

The pink-skinned girl leaned over slightly in Marin's direction – never taking her eyes from the twins – and whispered back, "I don't know. They just started to spout these very odd names at each other."

"Have you tried to stop it?" Marin questioned

"Once, but they didn't notice. Master Veila-Kenys even waved one of Master Alaric's games in front of him," Kionne murmured.

Marin blinked in surprise. Alaric hadn't even noticed his video games? Technology was the love of his life! She scratched her head in bemusement. What could she do? An idea suddenly popped into her idea. Taking a deep breath, Marin took a step forward and stated, "Machine Junkie and Human Wookiee(1)."

The twins turned to Kionne and exclaimed together, "That's it! Great job, Marin!"

She blinked again. "What did I do?"

"You found –" Mystiran started.

"The perfect codenames," Alaric finished.

"I did? Go me!" Marin cheered. She pumped a fist in the air.

"You were arguing over codenames?" Tahiri asked. The petite blonde started to stare the boys down. "You're kidding me."

Mystiran had the grace to look a little sheepish but Alaric nodded and added, "No, codenames are very important. If you don't have a good codename then –"

"You're kidding me," Tahiri repeated flatly. She turned to Mystiran and changed the subject. "Can we go back to our room, now? My feet are killing me! Some moron needs to watch where they're stepping."

"Sure, but d'you mind if I hang out with Al afterwards?"

"So long as it's in his room – you two tend to make a lot of noise otherwise," Tahiri said.

Mystiran nodded and excused himself and Tahiri for a few moments. Marin, Kionne, and Alaric stood in the same spot for a few moments. Then, Alaric moved away and returned a minute later playing Mega Wampa Bashers 6.

"Master Kenys-," Kionne started.

"Alaric," he interrupted, still intent on his game. He started jumping up and down. "Jump, you sith-spawned moron, jump!"

"Master Alaric," Kionne amended, "shouldn't we start heading back to your room?"

"Guess so. Hah! Take that, wampa scum!" Alaric crowed.

Marin and Kionne sighed and moved to stand on either side of him. They grabbed his arms and started to pull him out of the room. He went along willing, seeming not to notice the changing scenery. Outside in the hall, the trio came upon Jaina and Zekk. Jaina smiled in greeting while Zekk shot them a quick smile before turning to Marin.

"Were you out here near the gardens earlier about twenty minutes ago?" he asked.

Marin shook her head. "Nope, I was with them, wasn't I?"

Kionne nodded and Alaric insulted his game. The answers appeared to satisfy Zekk for now. Jaina gave him a quick "I-told-you-so" look. She then smiled at the others again and asked, "Where are you guys heading off to?"

"Master Alaric's room to meet Mystiran," Kionne answered.

Alaric blinked and looked up at the sound of his name. He gave a surprised smile to Jaina and Zekk. "Hi, when did you guys get here?"

"Mind if we join you?" Zekk asked, ignoring Alaric's question.

"Join us for what?" Alaric asked.

Marin swore she saw Alaric's eyes narrow and an almost imperceptible, sly smile cross his face. When she blinked though, Alaric's oblivious look was back. They, again, ignored Alaric's question and agreed to have Jaina and Zekk join their party. Marin and Kionne became unnecessary in leading Alaric, for he – to their surprise – turned off his game and placed it in his back pocket.

"So, did you guys see the smashball game with Corellia versus Commenor?" Alaric asked.

Jaina quickly said that she had and the two started to heatedly discuss the finer plays of the game with Zekk interjecting every now and then. Marin watched as Zekk would occasionally sneak glances at Jaina when he thought no one was looking. She also observed Jaina stealing a look or two at Zekk.

Suddenly, she became aware that this was definitely not the way to Alaric's room. In fact, it looked remarkably like the hallway that was very important to their scheme. Holy FMA! It was "the closet" hallway! Her eyes widened and she made eye contact with Alaric who gave a small shake of his head to keep her silent.

Quickly, Marin turned to her friend to find that she, too, had made the discovery. The plan was in motion. Ahead of schedule. A day ahead of schedule. How would they explain this to Jacen Solo, much less Han? Oh well, it would be horrible to waste such a perfect opportunity. And if they did it today, right now, she wouldn't have to leave in the middle of Trigun.

Alaric flicked his eyes towards the door, signaling for Kionne and Marin to open it while Jaina and Zekk were arguing over a call during the game. They did and Alaric led the unsuspecting Jaina and Zekk into the rather large storage closet. Neither of them noticed Alaric relieving Zekk of his comlink, nor did they notice him slowly backing out of the room. Jaina's attire had not allowed her a comlink and both didn't have their lightsabers on them.

It was only when the lights turned off and a small beep went through the room, signaling the lock being activated, did they notice that they were alone in a storage closet.

----------

"Sithspit! What the kriff is going on?" Jaina cursed.

"I don't know," Zekk's voice answered her from somewhere on her left.

The room was pitch black, and with no light to see, Jaina had no idea where she was. One minute she and Zekk had been discussing a call in a smashball game, and the next, they were shut in a dark room. She fumbled around, looking for a light switch. Giving a frustrated sigh, she dipped into the Force and started to rub the energy in the air around her together(2). A glowing ball abruptly appeared in the air, blinding Jaina for a moment even though the light was weak.

"Hey, how'd you do that?"

Jaina jumped when she heard Zekk's question. She had briefly forgotten he was there. While she gave a swift explanation of how she did it, Jaina looked around for a switch. A triumphant grin crossed her face as she caught sight of the wayward object. With a flourish, she flipped the switch, bringing the glow lamps to life. Jaina was blinded yet again, but her eyes adapted quickly.

"What's going on?" Zekk asked.

He had perched himself on a box and was now looking up at Jaina. They appeared to be ina storage room about the size of the refresher unit in her apartment. There were several boxes stacked around and a shelf stood of to the side of one such stack. Jaina made herself as comfortable as she could on a box in a corset and dress.

"I don't know, but I think we've been set up," Jaina announced.

Zekk looked like he was seriously considering a sarcastic response but thought better of it. Instead he admitted, "For the past few days, it feels like I've been followed."

"I know, same here. I just thought I was being paranoid, though," Jaina also admitted.

"So… What do we do now?"

"Dunno; we can't stay in here forever, though."

This time, Zekk didn't hold back the snarky response. "Really? Because I thought dehydrating and starving to death was a great idea."

"Shut up."

----------

Alaric, Marin, and Kionne met Mystiran in front of Alaric's room. Mystiran took in their gleeful appearances with apprehension. The last time Alaric had that look on his face, he had ended up with his boots and helmet full of gelatin. Once he was certain that it was nothing at his expense, Mystiran asked, "What's up?"

"We did it!" Marin squealed. She started to jump up and down.

"You bet we did!" Alaric crowed.

"Did you see their faces?" Kionne asked in delight. She joined Marin in jumping up and down.

Mystiran blinked and stared at the festivities for a moment before joining in. He jumped past Alaric and whispered, "What did we do?"

"We locked Jaina and Zekk into the closet," Alaric exclaimed.

He blinked, staring at the three before yelling, "WHAT?"

The three revelers stopped jumping – Alaric did so in mid-jump, making him fall to the floor in an undignified heap. Mystiran stared at them in shock. He had yet to set the comlink needed to communicate with them in the closet. How was he supposed to tell them what they had to do to be released? How was he going to tell them about a box of supplies they left for them? Oh snap, everything was ruined!

He started to tug on his hair then stopped when he remembered that Tahiri didn't want him bald. Panic started to flood through him. His breathing was already becoming heavier when Alaric approached him.

"'Ran, calm down. There's no need to panic," Alaric soothed. "Breathe in, breathe out." When he saw his brother's breathing even out once more he patted Mystiran's head and added, "Good boy. Want a cookie?"

Mystiran swatted Alaric's hand away. "Scrag-for-brains, how are we going to tell them about the supplies and the plan if the comlink isn't in there?"

"Master Zekk has his comlink," Marin chirped. "We can just block the signal after we're done."

"No, he doesn't," Alaric corrected. He looked sheepish. He waved the offending object in the air. "I lifted it off of him."

Mystiran started to pace, muttering to himself under his breath. His eyes were focused on the floor when he heard his brother stage whisper, "He be acting a few colors short of a rainbow, but don't worry. He's really thinking, though that can be just as bad."

"Shut up, Al."

"Shutting up."

An idea was just on the edge of his brain. He could feel it. All he had to do was concentrate on it. He sighed. Never mind, it was just a memory that his mother wanted him to pick her up a souvenir. The distinct feeling of betrayal stuck him. Of all times for his brain to fail.

"Is there a vent in the closet?" Marin asked. Mystiran turned to her briefly to see if she was serious. She looked it, so he nodded an affirmative. The grin on her face became wider. "Then all you have to do is crawl through the vents and talk to them through there."

"Great idea," Mystiran said, "Just one problem."

"What?"

"One of us has to a ventriloquist or else they're going to find the vent, which I have hidden with boxes," Mystiran explained.

"Oh… I can do that," Marin said.

"You're a ventriloquist?" Alaric asked, looking up from the video game he had started to play when he saw that he wasn't immediately needed.

"Yep, I'm not very good but I'm good enough," Marin said with a smile. "My daddy taught me. It's a hobby of his."

"Good, good, now all we have left to do is a bit of vent crawling," Mystiran said, rubbing his hands together. "Okay, here's what I want you to say…"

-----------

"We're stuck in here," Zekk said for the eighth time in the past twelve minutes.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Jaina said. "Have anymore intelligent remarks to make while you're at it?"

He scowled at her but said nothing. They were positioned to give themselves as much comfort as possible trying to ignore their growling stomachs. Jaina hadn't eaten much at the party; her corset didn't allow for a normal-sized meal. Zekk was hungry because there was a lot of him to feed and he taken pity on Jaina and decided to not eat in front of her. After all, he wasn't cruel.

Zekk was stretched across three boxes, his feet propped up on another near Jaina. On the other hand, Jaina remained seated in an upright position since she feared that she would be stuck if she lay down. Both were scowling at their misfortune and thought of ways to torture their apprentices and Alaric once they were released from the closet. Suddenly, there was a thumping noise from above. Zekk toppled from his position and Jaina jumped.

Silently, both Jedi waited and reached out through the Force to find who was there. Disturbingly enough, there wasn't anyone, unless the noise-maker happened to be Yuuzhan Vong or droid. A few moments later, there was another thump, this time coming from Zekk's right. He rolled away and sat back on his haunches ready to spring into action.

Instead of an attacker, the muffled voice of Marin came from the shelf. "Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Marin!" Jaina and Zekk exclaimed together. Both seemed to not know what to speak to so they directed their attention to the shelf even though they felt foolish doing so.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Where are you?" Zekk asked.

"Why the Sith did you lock us in a closet?" Jaina exclaimed.

There was a muffled noise from inside the wall and then Marin said, "We locked you in a closet for one purpose… To get you two together. Oh, and Master Jaina, Kionne says to watch your language."

Jaina and Zekk blinked at the shelf for a moment, processing the meaning of Marin's statement. Zekk got it first and his face burned with his realization. When Zekk recovered enough, he stuttered, "W- what? W-what d- d- d'you mean by t- together? We're… together right now. See?" He gave Jaina a swift one-armed hug in demonstration before continuing. "It would be rather hard for us to be in the same room without being together."

His nerves made him corny. Zekk had been warned by Jacen many years ago never to talk when it came to his feelings about Jaina because he normally made himself sound like an idiot. He really wished he'd taken Jacen's advice for once. Jaina peered up at him with a bemused expression. Apparently, she still hadn't caught on to Marin's meaning, however obvious it was.

"… Master Zekk, that was one of the oddest things I've ever heard," Marin's voice stated. "And that's saying a lot. Now, to clarify, we want you together as a couple because it's totally obvious that you dig each other."

Both Jedi blushed and became flustered. An awkward silence descended upon the pair as Marin's voice remained quiet for this to sink in. They suddenly found the floor far more interesting than each other.

"Okay, you obviously need to talk this over. But you won't come out of the closet until you're a couple. There are some supplies in two boxes to the – what was it? – Oh right, the left of the bookshelf," Marin's voice informed them. A few moments later, she noticed her blunder. "I mean there are supplies in two boxes to the left of the bookshelf. You can't miss 'em; they have 'supplies' written on them. Well, I'm going to leave you two lovebirds alone, but remember that y'all can't come out until you're a couple."

"Marin, wait!" Jaina ordered, but there was no response.

Another awkward silence stretched between the pair. Zekk nervously started to tug on his tie, absently loosening and tightening it as he went. There was a _scrat-scrat_ noise as Jaina dragged a slipper-covered foot across the floor. The silence remained between them for several minutes, neither knowing what to say. While still dragging a foot across the floor, Jaina's hand unconsciously reached up in an attempt to fiddle with the ties of her corset under her dress. The impossible garments were becoming more uncomfortable by the second. She jumped in surprise when Zekk cleared his throat.

"Maybe we should…" he trailed off and made a vague gesture at the aforementioned boxes.

She nodded and moved over to them at the same moment Zekk did. As she crouched down to open one, her arm brushed against Zekk's. They flinched, a flush creeping up their faces, and tried to move away from each other as discreetly as possible in an attempt to hide their discomfort.

Silently, she started to unpack the supplies. There were several packets of ration bars, canteens of water, and three glow rods. Beside her, Zekk was also seeing what his box held. Out of it he pulled two pairs of jump suits in their respective sizes, a pair of blankets, more water canteens, and ration packets. Strangely enough, at the bottom there were reading materials that had obviously been picked by Marin along with a book chip reader.

Taped onto the reader was a note scribbled in Marin's untidy, lopsided hand. It said _'Don't forget to change your socks every day and feel free to browse my manga chips. I picked out some that I think you two would find interesting.'_

Jaina started at Zekk when he began to chuckle. She leaned over him to read the note and gave a shake of her head. What she didn't notice was that he had abruptly stopped laughing the moment she had invaded his personal space. She smiled to herself then pulled away, allowing Zekk to breathe freely once more.

The jumpsuits that she had pulled out caught her eye once more and she looked at them with distinct relish. But then she remembered that she was not alone in the storage closet. Scowling to herself, Jaina decided to not care. After all, Zekk could just turn around. It didn't matter that she was getting undressed with a male human in a small space. Han would gruesomely murder Zekk either way, so it didn't matter. Really.

"Zekk, I need you to turn around," Jaina ordered.

He blinked and attempted to gain eye contact with her but gave up when she stubbornly refused to look at him. "Why?"

"I want to change."

Standing, he turned around and faced the opposite wall. Jaina gave a sigh of relief and moved her hands to unclasp the convoluted fastenings of the dress. When she was finally free of that part, another problem presented itself. Her corset. It was the only thing that she couldn't undo herself. She worried her lower lip.

"Zekk?" Jaina called quietly in a strained voice.

"Hmm?"

"Can… Can you… umm… Unlace my corset for me?" Jaina asked. Immediately, she started to mentally berate herself. He had seen her in less when they use to go swimming! There was nothing to be embarrassed about! She nodded to herself and straightened.

"Sure, no problem," Zekk said.

She heard and felt him approach then stop. Tentatively, she reached out and touched his mind to see what had made him stop. She felt waves of confusion and mentally, she could picture him scratching his head. "Zekk, do you know how to unlace a corset?" Jaina asked.

He laughed. "Not a clue. It's not something you normally learn on the streets of Coruscant or at the Jedi Academy, you know."

"That's true," Jaina said. She strained her arm around to point at the ties. "Just loosen the laces like you would on a shoe."

"Okay," Zekk agreed uncertainly.

His hands fumbled with the laces for a moment and Jaina felt a painful squeeze. "Zekk," she rasped. "You're tightening it. Opposite, please."

He muttered a quick apology and started to do the opposite. It took Zekk several more minutes of struggling with the laces before he was able to loosen it fully. Jaina breathed a sigh of relief. That thing was too constricting. She unfastened the front and tossed it onto a box.

"Couldn't you have done that in the first place, instead of having me loosen it?" Zekk asked.

She turned around and observed his oddly red face with a raised eyebrow. She simply stated, "It's easier with the laces loosened. Now turn around so I can get changed."

Zekk rolled his eyes but turned again. She quickly changed and had him turn around. Zekk shucked his coat, un-tied his tie, and started to loosen his collar. Jaina vaguely remembered that he had a strong dislike for tight collars, like her father. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and flopped down on a box. Jaina did the same on a box parallel to him. He smiled at her and asked, "So… What are we going to do?"

Now that she was in a jumpsuit and, physically, more comfortable, she felt open to thinking about what to do to get out of this closet. She folded her legs and made eye contact with Zekk. All they had to do was… Her face burned.

"I don't know," Jaina admitted. Her face burned harder. A moment later, she furiously berated herself. She didn't feel anything more than friendship for Zekk. There was nothing to blush about, nothing at all. Although, it didn't help that he looked quite nice in his un-tucked tuxedo shirt with his long hair down. If possible, her blush grew.

Zekk's eyebrow rose questioningly at her cherry complexion. Jaina was dismayed to realize that her liking for that expression on his face had returned. She felt like bashing her head against the wall. Or curling into a little ball and hiding in a corner.

"Jaya, are you okay?" Zekk asked.

The dark-haired man stood and crossed the short distance to where she sat in one long-legged step. He kneeled in front of her and placed his hand on her forehead in concern. She leaned back away from his hand. Zekk frowned but didn't say anything. Instead, he reached out again and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Zekk," Jaina assured him. The urge to hit her head against the wall grew stronger. "Do you have any ideas about what to do?"

"None," Zekk admitted. He brushed his hand against her shoulder once before taking it away.

"Well, maybe we should go to sleep and think on it in the morning?" Jaina suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Zekk agreed.

He retrieved the blankets, handing one to Jaina. She nodded her thanks, looking around for a place to sleep. There wasn't much space to begin with and Zekk would take up most of it if he stretched out fully. Occasionally – Jaina realized this after waking up with little to no space – Zekk would occupy more than his assigned sleeping area while resting. He'd fully spread his arms and legs out, pushing her almost to the point of teetering off the bed.

For his part, Zekk didn't seem to notice her hesitancy and stretched out on the floor, using his arm for a pillow. She remained on the box for several minutes watching his breathing even out into sleep. A startling, and slightly terrifying, realization came over her. She liked Zekk. Liked him more than a friend. Again.

Fear at that thought raced through her. Fear had stopped her from admitting her fondness for him when she was a teenager and now it would most likely stop her again. Only it was a different type of fear this time. Before, it was the fear of her feelings. Now, it was fear of… Well, she didn't knowwhat she was afraid of. Maybe she should…?

Her train of thought came to an abrupt end when Zekk's hand landed on her foot. She must have started tapping her foot when she was thinking. Zekk mumbled something sleepily before rolling away. With a sigh, Jaina slid off her box and lay down, pillowing her head on her arm. Ten minutes later, Jaina was asleep.

----------

He felt warm. Far warmer than he had been falling asleep with the cool metallic floor beneath him. His side was killing him and he couldn't feel the fingers in his right hand at all. Scratch that, he had lost almost all feeling in his arm. Strangely enough, he was incredibly happy about it.

Something shifted in his arms and a wet spot in his right sleeve pressed against his arm. His sleepy mind was trying to tell him something. The source of his added warmth and uncomfortable position. He protested thinking this early and buried his face in something that was soft and smelled like engine grease mixed with the soap that was in Jaina's room. His mind started to wake at thoughts of Jaina.

With great effort, he managed to pry open one eye to see Jaina resting snugly in his arms with her head on his right arm, drooling slightly. Inwardly, he thought she looked rather cute like that, outwardly, he wondered how she ended up in his arms. He rather liked the feeling despite the circulation in his arm being cut off.

He shifted slightly, hoping to find a more comfortable position without waking her. It was difficult, but he managed. When his arm started to tingle, signaling the flow of blood, he gave a sigh and relaxed. Hopefully when she woke up, Jaina wouldn't be too upset about waking up in his arms. Or that he hadn't bothered to separate them when he woke up. If push came to shove, he could always feign sleep.

Abruptly, his thought were cut short when he sensed Jaina's mind beginning to awake moments before her body started to stir. For a moment, he froze but relaxed an instant later. He didn't have to worry. Jaina was a reasonable person when she wanted to be. She would see that nothing would happen. He distantly wondered if he should be offended if Jaina did think something less than honorable happened.

"'Morning," Jaina murmured sleepily, cutting into his thoughts.

Zekk looked down as she buried her face in his arm. He raised an eyebrow and waited for their position to sink in. Jaina stirred again, fidgeting until she _could_ look him in the eye. Her gaze was still drowsy from sleep but he could see flashes of consciousness. She gave him a sleepy smile.

"How'd we end up like this?" Jaina asked. Her voice was loosing the heaviness that sleep had added to it.

Zekk shrugged in response. He was too busy watching her facial expressions as she woke up fully too really take in her words. While he observed her, Jaina was doing the same to him. Several moments of silence went by with them staring at each other.

Slowly, Jaina rose up on her elbow. Zekk mimicked her actions. Then – it happened so quick that he swore he imagined it – she kissed him. His eyes widened. But before he could say anything, she kissed him again, longer this time. She pulled back and smiled at him.

-----TBC-----

Again, sorry this took so long. Hope it was worth the wait. It nearly equaled ten pages! R&R if you want.

**Johnny#5:** ..._hugs... _Thank you for your review! It was so sweet, if you don't mind me saying so. It made me so happy! I have to say that if you continue to review like that my ego is going to swell or something. Sith, if _anyone_ reviews I'm afraid I'll get an ego boost. Anyways, my point is that I really appreciated your review and I pretty much had to reply this way because there was no e-mail thing next to your name.

_...loves her reviewers..._


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